Chicken Pox
by charmedlizard
Summary: Chris Revelation Fic:Chris is outted by the chicken pox, and this leads to a great adventure which includes evil Wyatt, past loves, new loves, and lots of other adventures! It starts out fluffy,but it gets deeper I promise.
1. Chapter 1

This story is set after "Chris Crossed" but no one found out about Chris being 1/2 witch-1/2 whitelighter.

**Chapter 1: New Priorities **

"No," Piper said, passing Wyatt into Chris' arms. She had just gotten in from the grocery store, and was unloading the rest of the packages from her car. Chris was currently trying to convince her to go on another demon hunt, but she wasn't biting. Her day had been awful. First, her band that was booked for that night had cancelled. Then she had been summoned to the daycare to pick up Wyatt who had been afflicted by the recent chicken pox outbreak, which led to her being forced to grocery shop with a sick, screaming, and feverish toddler. Now, was not the time for a demon hunt.

For his part, Chris was also unhappy with either the answer, or his new cargo. He had been working around the clock for the past week coming up with this new lead, and the Charmed Ones were being wholly uncooperative. He and the sisters and Leo had reached an uneasy relationship, but he knew their trust was fragile. He didn't want to push them too hard, but he was on a deadline. No one seemed to understand that!

"Piper! This is important," Chris sighed in frustration, which caused Wyatt to start crying again. Chris looked down at his little/older brother in disgust. It was just too weird. He could deal with seeing his mom alive and young. He could deal with seeing his father family-oriented and loving toward his son. But seeing his brother who was the tyrant of the world and who had destroyed his life, as an innocent baby. An innocent, sticky, whiny, smelly baby. A baby who had just sneezed and snotted all over him. "Bless you," he mumbled, trying to one-handedly wipe baby goop off of his face.

He tried to pass the baby back to Piper, but her hands were full of grocery bags. Instead he shifted Wyatt to his hip and moved to open the kitchen door. "I came back here to save your son from a future threat, and I need your help to do it. I understand that you want to have that whole normal life thing, but this is important!" He set Wyatt down in his high chair, and moved to help Piper with the groceries, all the while still pleading his case.

"There's my cute little nephew!" Phoebe cooed coming into the kitchen. "No demon hunting Chris," she cut off, as soon as he opened his mouth. "I just came home to change clothes before my lunch date with Jason. He's only here for a few more hours before he flies off to who knows where, and I'm going to spend every opportunity with him. Oh no! Poor little Wyatt! What's wrong baby?" She reached down to pick up Wyatt, but thought better of it, because she didn't want to get baby gooed before her date.

"Yeah, the daycare called this morning, and apparently there was an outbreak of chicken pox this week and guess who was infected? So much for my date with Greg tonight," Piper lamented. She had really been looking forward to having a night out. Hopefully, though, Wyatt's illness would be excuse enough to convince Chris to postpone the demon hunt.

"Chicken pox?" Chris asked backing up a little bit. He was both worried and relieved. He was relieved, because Piper was going to cancel her date, so he didn't have to worry about her and fireman sleeping together, but he also knew that Wyatt being sick meant that Piper wouldn't want to abandon her child for a demon hunt. "Why don't you get Leo to watch him later, and we can all demon hunt after Jason leaves?"

Piper sighed. She knew there was no way she could put off this demon hunt until tomorrow. Chris had that look on his face that showed his stubborn streak was coming out to play. For a second she pondered that look. Every now and then he would say or do something that seemed so familiar, but before she could think too hard on it, he would do something so annoying that she completely lost all train of thought. This was one of those times. "Fine. Phoebe, you go have your lunch date with Jason, and then get back here by five. I'll call Paige and make sure she's here then too. And you," she said, turning to Chris, "can take Wyatt upstairs for a nap, while I make lunch." Chris looked like he was going to argue, but she gave him a look to show that she meant business. "Go! I don't have time to get everything done that needs to be done, so you, as our whitelighter, are going to help me. March!" she ordered, pointing to the stairs.

Phoebe nearly laughed out loud at the look on Chris' face. He suddenly looked abashed, and immediately picked up Wyatt and did as he was told. Phoebe had never seen him be so obedient. It was funny. After Chris 'marched' upstairs with Wyatt, Phoebe turned to argue with Piper over the plan, but was stopped short.

"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned at the look that had suddenly come to rest on Piper's face.

"We need to do this. I keep trying to convince myself that Chris made up this threat to Wyatt, but the truth is, that I believe him. I know you want to spend time with Jason, but I need to make sure my son is safe. So please? Be back by five?" Piper had finally broken. It had been such a long week, and she really was worried. The more Chris became part of their lives, the more she was forced to believe him. And the more she believed him, the more worried she became. She would not let anything happen to her son, whatever it took.

"Ok, I'll be back by five."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: A Pox on All their Houses **

He orbed in at five on the dot. He was glad that Piper seemed to be finally taking the threat seriously, but he was still worried she was going to back out on him. The sisters seemed to do that a lot.

"Ok! Are we all set?" Piper asked, walking into the kitchen. She was followed by Paige and Phoebe. Leo was already in the kitchen holding a spotty Wyatt. "Leo can you watch Wyatt while we're gone, and…what is that on your arm?" Piper changed topic suddenly; her attention turning to Chris who was scratching at his arms and neck.

Chris immediately knew he was busted. Chicken pox! He hadn't even thought about the fact that he had never had them. Well, he had them, but Wyatt had healed them, because he was so sick that his mom had really started to worry. His fever had been too high, and he was a sickly kid. All of that meant that he had never developed the immunity for chicken pox. He was screwed. Whitelighters didn't get sick, let alone get the chicken pox. How was he going to explain this?

Piper quickly reached out and grabbed his arm before he could pull it away. And there, spread across his forearm, was the evidence that he wasn't a full whitelighter. "How do you have the chicken pox? Can whitelighters get the chicken pox?" She asked turning to Leo, still not letting go of Chris' arm.

"No," Leo answered, "they don't. Care to explain?" Leo answered, putting Wyatt in his high chair, and advancing on Chris.

"I…uh...well…" He didn't know what to say. He couldn't come clean, but he couldn't think of a believable lie. At that moment, the fever was starting to set in, and he really wanted to confess everything and ask his mommy to make him chicken noodle soup and slather him in calamine lotion like she had done for Wyatt, but he knew he couldn't. He knew that coming clean could lead to him not existing. He knew all of this, but that didn't make it any easier. Chris finally decided that a half-truth would have to do.

"The truth is, I'm only a half whitelighter. I know I should've told you sooner, but I needed to be assigned as your whitelighter so that I could help protect Wyatt, and I didn't think the Elders would assign me if they knew I wasn't a full whitelighter, and I'm really sorry, and…and…" And he fainted.

Phoebe had started to worry about Chris part way through his confession. All of the blood had drained from his face, and he had broken into a cold sweat. Then, all of the sudden, he was unconscious. Thankfully, Leo had been close enough to catch him, and he orbed Chris to the couch.

For a split second, Piper was concerned. She was suddenly moved to blot the young man's forehead and make him chicken noodle soup, and …where had she put the calamine lotion? And then, she was furious. He had lied to them. They had begun to trust him, and it turns out he had lied. Sure it wasn't as if he was evil, but he was keeping something important from them.

"That's it! I can't believe he kept this from us!" Piper yelled, her anger suddenly bubbling over. "I'm going to figure out exactly what is going on!" she yelled, strolling purposefully toward the stairs, however, after a moment, her motherly instincts took over. "Leo, will you stay and watch Wyatt and Chris? And Phoebe, the thermometer and calamine lotion are in the kitchen. Paige, you're with me." Even though her anger subsided a little looking at their young whitelighter covered in itchy red bumps, she was still angry enough to continue on her course of action.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Embarrassment, Reunions, and Time Travel**

He slowly woke from his sleep, confused as to what had happened. He remembered being busted, he remembered panicking, and then …nothing. He pulled himself out of the fog, realizing he was on the couch in the conservatory. Something was off though. He could see Phoebe's face blurry in his line of vision, he felt something weird in his ears, and he felt some something gooey all over his arms and chest. He suddenly was pulled into awareness.

"Phoebe!" he yelled, jerking his head away from the thermometer she was holding in his ear. A baby thermometer, really? This was ridiculous. He looked down, and noticed his shirt was off, and he was covered in calamine lotion. Fantastic. What the hell had happened?

Phoebe had been tending to Chris for the past twenty minutes or so while Paige and Piper were on their mission upstairs. She wasn't really sure what they were planning, but she knew it probably wasn't good. Leo had checked over Chris when he passed out. He said Chris had probably passed out from a combination of the fever, exhaustion, malnutrition, etc. Leo had then taken Wyatt upstairs, because Wyatt had begun to fuss from his fever, and needed a nap.

Phoebe still couldn't believe they had let the young man destroy himself like that. Young man. He was young. She had watched him as he slept, and he looked so young an innocent, and then she realized that he _was_ that young. For the past few months, they had thought he was a whitelighter, so they assumed he was older than he looked. But he wasn't; he was just a child.

That realization had awakened her maternal instincts. Since then, she had removed his shirt and smothered him in calamine lotion from head to waist. She decided it was too much of an invasion of privacy to go any further down that that. Phoebe had been about to check his temperature again, when he awoke. And once again, she nearly laughed out loud at the look of indignation on his face.

"Oh calm down," she chuckled, rolling her eyes. "The ear thermometer was already downstairs because of Wyatt, and I was just trying to make you more comfortable. I'm _so_ sorry for caring. Now sit still, while I see if your temperature has dropped at all. You're going to need your strength, because you have some serious explaining to do," she ended, with mock seriousness.

"I know. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but there were—" Chris started to say future consequences, but the look on Phoebe's face cut him off. "So what happened?"

"You passed out. Apparently _someone _hasn't been taking care of himself! Leo said it was probably a combination of fever, malnutrition, exhaustion, etc. Leo is upstairs with Wyatt, and Piper and Paige are making mischief upstairs. Piper was a little upset by this newest development, so-"

Whatever Phoebe was going to say was cut off by a crash coming from the attic. Chris and Phoebe shared a meaningful look, and Chris realized what exactly Phoebe had meant by 'mischief.' Piper was most likely upstairs casting some sort of spell to find out the rest of his secrets, and judging from that crash, it wasn't going well. He grabbed Phoebe's hand and orbed them upstairs immediately.

Paige was worried. She had done as she was told and followed Piper to the attic. The look on her sister's face was a mix of determination, anger, and…hurt? Paige couldn't be sure, but it definitely looked like hurt.

"I can't believe he would keep this from us! I can't believe he lied to us, and I can't believe he would let himself get this sick, and …and…MALNUTRITION! Malnutrition? I'm a chef? How can my whitelighter be malnourished? And he's just a kid…and…and…"

Paige was sure now. It was hurt. Hurt and guilt. Paige had felt it too. Looking at Chris after he had passed out, Paige had realized how awful they had treated the young whitelighter and he was killing himself to save Wyatt.

"Listen, sweetie, I know you feel bad about all of this, but we'll make it up to him," Paige tried to console, coming to stand behind her sister, who was angrily flipping through the book of shadows. "We just have to realize that he has to keep secrets, and –"

"NO! I won't accept it. I'm tired of secrets and manipulation. We're figuring this out immediately. Here it is. Here is a spell to reveal one's biggest secret. If we change that to this," she muttered, while scribbling it down on a piece of paper. "Come say it with me," Piper said determinedly. "NOW!" She ordered when Paige looked like she would object.

"Fine, but I think this is a bad idea. I feel like I should say that, so I can say 'I told you so' when it backfires."

_Secrets Unknown_

_Through hearth and home_

_Give us answers which we seek_

_From the future we wish to peek_

For a moment, the sisters thought that the spell hadn't worked. But then, after a few seconds had passed, black, twinkling orbs began to convalesce. The sisters moved back a bit, just in case it was a threat. The orbs coalesced to form a young man who looked to be about twenty-five. He had blonde curls that were matted, and darkened. At first, he looked slightly annoyed to have been summoned, but when he saw Piper, he became enraged.

"Who are you? How dare you look like them!" He screamed, flinging his arm, which threw Piper and Paige across the room, and they crashed into the fall wall.

He realized immediately that he should _not_ have done that. He was far too drained to be orbing. He felt as if he was made of lead, and all he wanted to do was go to sleep again. However, before he could further contemplate how truly awful he felt, he became aware of a much greater threat to his health.

"Wyatt." Chris growled.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Evil**

"Chris," Wyatt replied amusedly. He had gone from incensed, to delighted, within moments. At first he had thought someone was attempting to destroy him by looking like his family. He was ready to destroy the imposters, but then he realized that he had been summoned to the past, which was perfect.

Chris had tried to hide his weakness from his brother. He stood tall, and stared him in the eye, hoping that he looked intimidating. After his brother's reply, however, he realized this was pointless. He was covered in chicken pox, which were in turn covered in pink lotion. He felt as if he would pass out at any moment, but he was still attempting to stand his ground.

And so the room stayed, no one daring to move. Phoebe and Chris still stood by the attic door where they had orbed in; Piper and Paige were standing behind the book; and Wyatt had not moved from where he had materialized next to the far wall, the same wall which Chris jumped through on his way back from the future less than two weeks ago.

Before anyone could be roused from their shock, a new surprise began to materialize. Black orbs again began to coalesce, this time directly between Wyatt and Chris, in the center of the attic. They began about five feet in the air. First formed the tip of a light brown pony tail, which trailed to the middle of her back. The orbs then moved down further to reveal a tanned face with dark brown eyes, eyes made even darker by the cold look held in them. Next, a thin neck, adorned with a blue stone necklace, materialized; followed by bare shoulders; a black tube-top with a ragged hem just below the bust; a bare, tanned, midriff; and a black, worn, skirt. The hem drew a diagonal line from her right knee to her left ankle. On her feet, she had dark, leather, gladiator sandals.

She looked fierce. An impression cemented when she lithely conjured a dagger in each hand. The side of one blade was pointed at Wyatt, and the other at Chris. Her gaze concernedly shifted from Wyatt to Chris to the sisters and back to Wyatt once more.

"Connie?" Chris gasped. Piper looked toward him, and was concerned to notice that his complexion had paled even further, which she didn't think was possible. However, her worry over Chris' health was pushed out of her mind, when her suspicion was confirmed.

"Wyatt, what's going on? What happened?" Connie asked, staring up at Wyatt, and completely ignoring Chris.

So she wasn't crazy, Piper realized. Chris had called this man Wyatt. But what did that mean? Why did Chris look afraid of him? She thought Chris had come back to save her son. And the look on Wyatt's face when he had first materialized…it had been downright fearsome. She didn't know what to think about this, so she said the only thing that came to mind.

"Wyatt?"

Piper's voice pulled Chris from his shock. He was surprised by the number of emotions held in Piper's voice. It was soft, but strong; concerned, but determined; questioning, but demanding. It concerned him. He knew that the sisters shouldn't have to know about Wyatt, but part of him was relieved. Maybe now they'd help him out more, but he didn't have time to think about that right now. He needed to get the sisters to safety, and his brother back to the future.

"Paige, orb Piper out of here. Go get Wyatt, and stay someplace safe. Phoebe, back away slowly and get out of the house. I'll deal with this." Chris was in take-charge mode. He wasn't thinking very clearly as a combination of exhaustion and fever, and the uncontrollable itching all over his entire body. But he tried to put that out of his mind, and _focus on the mission_. That had become his mantra. Every time one of the sisters fought with him, or Leo tried to kill him, or he remember what had happened to Bianca. Through it all he just recited the mantra: _focus on the mission_.

Wyatt looked over Connie's head, ignoring the women of the room, and focusing on Chris. Realization lit his eyes, and he turned to Piper. "Mom?" he asked, his eyes widening in feigned innocence, and his voice softening. He backed away from Chris and Connie, and turned his full attention to his mother. This behavior confused Chris, until he realized his fatal mistake. He had called his mom Piper. Wyatt realized that Piper didn't know who he was, and now he was going to play the son card. Chris was screwed. The sisters barely trusted him as it was, and if Wyatt played innocent and painted Chris as the bad guy…things could get bad.

"Mom?" he repeated. "Thank god you're ok. I was so worried that Chris might have tried to hurt you. I've been trying for weeks to get back here to stop him from changing the future, but he took the time travel spell. I was so worried." Chris was amazed at how sincere he sounded. Wyatt had knitted his eyebrows together, and was wringing his hands. He even sped up his speech to make it sound similar to Aunt Phoebe's rambling.

Chris tore his gaze from his brother, and looked over to see if Piper or Paige were buying the story. Piper looked so torn. He knew she wanted more than anything to believe her son, but she still had doubts. Paige, on the other hand, looked wholly skeptical.

"You can't be buying this!" Paige blurted out, earning a glare from her sister. "First he shows up and flings us across the room. Then he glares murderously at Chris, and now he's trying to convince us he's the good one? This is bull and you know it Piper. I want to believe Wyatt as much as you do, but..." She couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence. The look on Piper's face had become even more distraught.

Piper glared at Paige, and then turned her attention to Phoebe. Her eyes silently begged to be told that Wyatt was telling the truth. That he wasn't evil, but instead, the look on Phoebe's face only added to her distress. Her sister looked like she was going to throw up. She was clutching her head, and her eyes were squeezed shut. Realizing that Piper was looking at her, she opened her eyes and shook her head at her sister, while mouthing the word "evil."

Piper was heartbroken, but she knew she needed to protect Chris. Chris was the innocent, and she had to protect him. But how would she fight her own child? However, she never got the opportunity to answer that question, because at that moment, all hell broke loose.

Phoebe doubled over and began retching into a trash can. Chris, suddenly overwrought, gave into the temptation and passed out. Connie, a look of concern passing over her face, moved toward Chris, which took her guard down from Wyatt. And Wyatt, realizing his mother wasn't going to believe him, took advantage of the chaos to throw Connie telekinetically across the room, and begun to advance on Chris.

Ok, so there is chapter 4. I know that a lot of people don't like it when authors add in character, but I need Connie for a later plot point, so please stick with me! And thanks everyone for the reviews! I'm studying for law school exams right now, so the praise/encouragement is greatly appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Once again everyone in the room froze, though sadly, not literally. Piper was so torn that she couldn't budge. Wyatt, however, had no such qualms. He advanced on Chris, in what seemed like slow motion. Piper was attempting to prepare herself for a fight with her baby boy, but failing miserably. She was so wracked with guilty and uncertainty that she felt paralyzed.

Paige, however, was quicker to shift into fight mode. She grabbed the first potion she could find and threw it at Wyatt. It hit the sleeve of his right arm, causing it to break out in something akin to leprosy. For a moment, Paige was unsure whether to be triumphant or concerned, but considering Wyatt seemed to be evil and not in too much pain, she decided to be the former. The triumph died a little when she realized her attack had been mostly ineffective.

He paused for a moment and looked down at the spot mildly annoyed. It had hurt a little, though he had experienced worse. He didn't even look back at Paige, but instead continued toward his prostrate brother and hopelessly ill aunt. Phoebe had stopped retching, but was still slumped against the wall. She tried to move her body between Wyatt and Chris, but she was too weak. She had no idea how she was going to stop Wyatt from taking the unconscious Chris, and thankfully, someone else intervened.

Baby Wyatt. He orbed himself between Chris and his older version, immediately putting up his shield to surround them both. The older version of Wyatt paused for a moment, slightly bemused. The amusement, however, soon turned to annoyance when he realized he could not bypass his own shield. He felt at the shield tentatively, but even that small amount of contact nearly knocked him off of his feet. He wasn't sure how he could be repelled by his own shield, but he realized it would take too much time to try and get through it now, and time was not on his side. Initially he had the element of surprise, but that had faded. Paige was heading for more potions, and Phoebe was gaining control of herself. He also sensed Leo coming up. No, he needed time to think of a better plan. A way of getting Chris back to the future without disrupting the past. After giving Phoebe an annoyed look -which clearly said that the fight wasn't over- he orbed out.

Leo had run in just in time to catch a fleeting glance of the dark stranger as he orbed out.

"Who was that?" He puffed, out of breath from his run upstairs. He had heard the first crash, but didn't investigate, figuring the sisters could handle it. Then had come the second crash and yelling; followed by the most terrifying noise of all: Wyatt orbing away. Leo was panicked, so panicked he didn't even remember to orb, he just ran to the attic.

"Wyatt," Piper answered, a determined look on her face. "And don't ask, we don't have time for explanations right now," Piper snapped, noting that Leo had opened his mouth to ask for further information. She couldn't handle it. She couldn't handle explaining to her ex-husband that she had accidentally summoned their darling baby to the past, just to realize that he was evil. She just couldn't.

"Leo, you orb Chris to my room and I'll go get him some soup. I think there's still some chicken-noodle in the fridge" Piper muttered as she made to flee from the attic.

"Piper I think we have bigger issues-" Paige started, but was cut off by Phoebe.

"That's a good idea sweetie. He'll need his strength," she encouraged, offering a small smile. Piper half-heartedly returned the smile, and then left the attic.

"Transference," Phoebe explained. "She feels like she's a failure as a mother, because her little boy turned into _that_, so she's trying to make amends by caring for Chris. Psychology 101. Which is why I suggest you do as she asked," she finished, glaring pointedly at Leo. "And put Wyatt back in his crib. Paige and I will start working on some semblance of a plan."

Leo paused. He really wanted answers about what the hell was going on, but he also realized the sisters needed him. Deciding to put his curiosity on hold in favor of making sure Piper was ok, he reached down and orbed Chris away.

"Paige? Can you orb…her, onto the sofa? I'll get the crystals to put around her until we figure out who she is. I didn't get the same evil vibe from her that I did with Wyatt, but her emotions seemed muffled." Phoebe was staring at the heap in the far corner, trying to decide what to do with this extra person. She just hoped the woman wasn't going to wake up and try to kill everyone.

Paige nodded, and did as she was asked. After their new visitor was safely and comfortably contained, Paige looked over at her sister, who was massaging her temples, still looking a little weak.

"Are _you_ alright?" Paige asked.

"Yeah," Phoebe said hesitantly. "It was just too much. I could feel Chris' fear, and Wyatt—I could taste the evil," she admitted. "It was so horrible. I felt the bile rising up in my throat, and…I just can't believe that he's evil," Phoebe ended in disbelief.

"Well not for long," Paige stated matter-of-factly, moving over to the Book of Shadows.

Home.

That was Chris' first thought when he awoke. The bed was so comfortable. It had been so long since he had slept in a bed, and this one was magnificent. He was enveloped in soft cotton sheets and a thick down comforter. And that smell. It was so familiar. It smelled like vanilla and lilacs mixed with chicken soup. The smell of his childhood. The smell of his mother. Every time he had been sick, he would wake up to find his mother hovering over him with a bowl of homemade chicken soup. For a brief moment, he hoped that when he opened his eyes, that would be the sight to meet him, but he knew that wasn't possible, so he tried to hang on to his dream just a little bit longer.

Piper sighed. She had been waiting for Chris to come to for a few minutes, but that was a few minutes too long. He looked as if he might wake up soon though, which gave her hope. She needed answers.

Chris groaned and shifted a little as he became fully conscious. His eyes fluttered open, and he realized it hadn't been a dream. He was lying in Piper's bed, and there was a bowl of soup on the nightstand.

"Am I dead?" he asked, suddenly panicked. He attempted to sit up, but Piper put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"No, you just fainted again," Piper explained, noting the look of embarrassment on Chris' face at the mention of fainting. "After…after Wyatt…" Piper couldn't say it. Her eyes started to tear and she turned away from Chris, and focused on the soup. "I brought you some soup. Leo said that you were probably weak from not taking care of yourself," she said disapprovingly. Piper motioned for Chris to sit up, and passed him the soup. "Now, we're going to need information from you, so that we can keep you safe."

"Piper," Chris started hesitantly, laying the soup back on the nightstand. It took all of his willpower. He really liked this feeling. The sisters finally knew Wyatt was evil, and they were protecting him from Wyatt. They took _his_ side. And the soup. It smelled so good, but he knew that he had to be firm here. He couldn't let them take care of this, it was up to him. He would stop Wyatt and send him and Connie back to the future. Connie. How had she—

"NO," Piper said firmly, cutting off Chris' train of thought. "Don't _Piper_ me." She passed the soup back, and sent Chris a look that barred any further argument. "Wyatt is my son and I want to fix this. I need to know how this happened to ensure that it doesn't happen again. Besides, after the incident with Bianca, you promised to tell us when you were in trouble. So, I am going to ask questions, and you are going to answer to the best of your ability while eating this soup. Clear?"

He paused, attempting to gain the strength to refuse like he knew he should, but he just felt so awful, and itchy, and hungry…

"Clear."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Tim Allen would be Proud**

"So can I have some answers now?" Leo asked, walking back into the attic. He wasn't sure how much longer he could wait. He had put Wyatt in the nursery and Chris in Piper's room, and now he needed answers. Piper hadn't been forthcoming, but had instead just stood worriedly over Chris. Leo had tried to get her to talk, but it was useless. He offered to heal Chris, but Piper had mumbled something about 'normal immunities,' so he dropped the subject, and left the room to find answers elsewhere.

Phoebe and Paige were so engrossed in the book that they were startled when Leo spoke. Realizing that he hadn't been told anything of what happened, Phoebe left Paige to scour the book, and moved to her ex-brother-in-law.

"Well, Paige said that her and Piper cast a spell to discover what Chris was hiding," Phoebe began gently, "and the spell brought Wyatt forward in time. He—" she faltered a little. She could tell that Leo wasn't taking this well, but he was trying. "He attacked us. He nearly got to Chris, but thankfully little Wyatt stopped him. And, I could feel the evil Leo, it's true. It made me physically sick. Paige and I are trying to find a way to turn him back or at least get him back to the future."

"Who is that?" Leo asked, noticing the young woman on the couch. She had a few contusions, and from what he could tell, a concussion, but she didn't seem to be in dire need of healing.

"We're not really sure," Phoebe answered, her attention turning to their new visitor. "Wyatt threw her against the wall, and she's been unconscious ever since. We don't even know which side she's on."

"What about this 'Heart Purification Spell'?" Paige interrupted. "It says it was used to bring one of our ancestor's husband's back from the 'brink of evil' after he was corrupted by a Warlock." Phoebe and Leo moved over to the book, hopeful looks crossing their faces.

"It won't work."

All three faces turned back toward the couch, where their visitor had finally woken up. The young woman sighed, and righted herself on the couch. Her face showed no emotion. She noticed the crystals around her, and Phoebe could swear she saw her lips twitch with a smile, but it was gone too quick to be sure.

"We tried that spell before, when we first realized he had changed," she explained to them. "He was about eighteen when the change really became apparent. We tried everything to fix it: spells, potions, the Elders, demons, but none of it worked. Chris did some research, and so we know he was turned sometime before his third birthday. That means evil has been slowly growing in him for over twenty years. It can't be cured by a single spell, not even one boasting the Power of Three."

"Well then," Paige answered her condescendingly, "I guess we'll just have to get a little extra power.

First, clarification: the orbs in the beginning were summoning orbs, not "orbing" orbs.

Second, thank you everyone for the reviews. I really appreciate the encouragement, and I'll try to update often

And for those of you who expressed OC rants, I definitely agree with you, and I promise to make Connie as un-cliché as possible, and you are welcomed/encouraged to call me on it when I do. I too have developed PTSD with regards to any character named Melinda, and I promise that Connie will be different. I promise. Not to impugn all who use the moniker, because I have read some good ones, but generally it is a signal for concern, so I will attempt to dispel the stereotype if you give me a shot.

Also, YES, criticism is welcomed! As Winston Churchill said, "Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Me**

Piper was surprised at how easy it felt talking with Chris. It had been difficult at first to get answers, but for some reason, he had decided to trust her, and to be a little less guarded, and for that she was thankful. It made it so much easier to trust him, when she knew he was being honest with her, and not manipulative.

She had started out with the general ice breaker questions while he ate. Trying to make him more comfortable, and making sure he wasn't going to pass out again. She started with how he felt, and what leads he had, and things like that. After a while though, she decided to delve into the more pressing questions. There were so many she wanted to ask, but she decided to start with the most pressing, and then move into the more intriguing ones.

"First, how about you explain that strange woman on my couch? Who is she and can we trust her?"

"That's Connie," he began. He was glad she had started with this question. It was probably the easiest to answer without giving away future consequences. "As far as trusting her, I don't really know. We've been friends for a long time. She, I, and Wyatt were really close as kids. Connie and I both had older siblings in the Magical Mommy and Me class at Magic School, so our moms met and became friends. They were pregnant at the same time-"

"Magical Mommy and Me?" Piper asked. This was the first time she'd heard of a Magic School. Maybe this was her solution to socializing Wyatt, without risk of exposure.

"Huh?" Chris asked. Crap! He didn't realize she didn't know about Magic School yet. "It's a school for magical kids. You can ask Leo about it," he side-stepped. He really didn't want to get into all of that. "Anyway, we were good friends as kids. She was one of my best friends, and…my first love."

Piper didn't know what to say. He was being so honest. That fact worried her a little. She wondered if it was part of the fever, but she wasn't going to stop him. It was nice to learn about him.

"Anyway, she disappeared soon after Wyatt went off the deep end. I assumed she was dead." He had been confused to see her, and with Wyatt. It didn't make much sense. "I don't really know whose side she's on, but if it's ours, she'll be a huge help."

"I see, well we'll just have to deal with that when she wakes up," Piper concluded. The answer hadn't satisfied her as much as she'd like, but she had learned something about Chris, and he'd been honest with her. That meant a lot.

"Oh, one more thing," Chris knew that Piper wasn't going to like this, but he also knew that he should tell her, "Connie is part demon, BUT-" he cut off before Piper could begin a rant, "she's technically neutral. Her mom was a witch-turned-Valkyrie and her dad was a demon-turned-warrior. So, she has some Wiccan powers, some demon powers, and some Valkyrie powers, but technically, she's neutral."

Piper pursed her lips, unsure of what to say. She supposed after the manticore episode, she couldn't go around vanquishing someone for being part demon, but it still worried her. However, that wasn't her concern right now. Chris was finally giving her answers, and that is what she needed to focus on.

"I appreciate you being honest with me," was all she said. She gave him a small smile, and then decided to move on to a new question. "So why weren't you honest with us to begin with? About Wyatt being evil. Why did you tell us you were here to stop the Titans?"

"I didn't think you'd believe me," he stated simply. "Be honest, if some random stranger from the future came and told you your child was evil, would you believe him?"

"No," Piper admitted, "I wouldn't have." Here came the big question. The question that she'd been working up to. She only hoped he'd be as honest in answering this one.

"Why did you make Leo an Elder? Were you trying to split us up?"

He paused, and it was the longest pause of Piper's life. Would he answer? Had she pushed too hard?

"I did make Leo an Elder. But I wasn't trying to split you up. In fact, I hoped it would keep you together," Chris admitted. He figured at this point, he might as well just come clean. Well, except for the big secret. That one he had to guard, but maybe explaining his motives would help get Piper and Leo back together…and help him be born.

"What?" Piper gasped. Of all the things she expected Chris to say, that was not one of them. "You wanted to keep us together by splitting us up?"

"Leo was destined to be an Elder," Chris started, praying that she would believe him. He was going to answer honestly, and he wasn't sure if he could take rejection. "I thought maybe if I made him an Elder earlier, when –" he stopped short. How did he explain this without giving away _the_ secret? "There's something else that has to happen in the next year. I thought maybe, when that happened, it would get you back together permanently, and Leo would have already realized that he couldn't be an Elder and have a family, so he would choose differently, and…well I just thought it would work," he ended lamely.

"If I ask what the big event that is supposed to happen is, would you answer?" Piper asked, knowing the answer.

"I can't. I just know that it's something that's destined to happen." _Hopefully_, he thought wryly to himself. "But if I tell you, it probably won't happen."

"Ok." She understood. Piper didn't want to risk the future any more than Chris did, but she was just so curious. Would that event really bring her and Leo back together? Did she want it to? Did he want it to? Suddenly, a new question popped into her head.

"Why do you care?" Just because he and Wyatt were friends as kids wasn't reason enough for him to want to keep Wyatt's parents together.

"To keep Wyatt good," Chris stated. It wasn't a total lie. That _was_ part of the reason. "If he had two parents looking out after him, it would be harder to turn him."

"So what was it that made you decide to answer my question?" Piper asked finally. Chris was relieved to see that Piper had bought his answer and was moving on to a new topic. "Not that I'm complaining, but until now, you haven't been very forthcoming."

"You chose me," he mumbled, not really sure how to explain. Noticing Piper's quizzical look, Chris decided to explain further. "Wyatt gave you the out you needed. He pretended to be good, but you didn't buy it. You chose to believe me this time. You could've deluded yourself into believing him, and let him take me, but you didn't. You trusted me, and so I decided to trust you."

Meanwhile, in the dark recesses of the underworld, the other Halliwell brother was putting his trust in a much more sinister force. It had taken him a while to formulate a plan that wouldn't jeopardize the future, but now he stood in front of his best chance at getting Chris back.

He was standing before a tall, stone relief. It had various symbols from different eras of history including Egyptian hieroglyphs, Asian cave paintings, and French lettering. The different symbols showed different incidences in history where the demon had come forth.

This demon was perfect, as long as Wyatt could summon him. In his time, the Charmed Ones had faced the demon a few years from now, but he was sure that they could handle him now. But, it would still be challenging enough to distract them from protecting Chris.

He prepared himself, and stepped towards the relief. He slit the palm of his left hand, and pressed it against the cold stone. The wall began to shake and glow…


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Baby Monitor?**

"You DARE summon me witch!" the dark figure bellowed, as he emerged from behind the relief. "Do you know who I am? It was I who drove Brutus to betray Caesar. I, who stood beside Judas Iscariot. I who overthrew the Romanovs. And you summon me? I who topple empires and kingdoms? I who have crushed generations of witches and demons and-"

"That's enough Dissid. I get it," Wyatt interrupted, "you're powerful. Well so am I, and I neither fear nor worship you. And don't bother to test your power on me," he added, noticing the demon had drawn nearer. "I follow no one, and no one who follows me is in this time. What I do have, however, is a proposition."

The demon could tell the man before him spoke the truth. He could feel the power and authority radiating from him. Even if he could manipulate this man, he knew it would be unwise to do so. But the man had not lied about the ineffectiveness of his power either. Dissid could not affect him. His abilities didn't work on individuals, only groups.

That aside, Dissid was intrigued. He would listen to the man's proposal, and use it to his advantage. "And what is that?"

"I assume you have heard of the Charmed Ones?" Wyatt continued at the demon's nod, "Well I need to procure someone from their custody. And I want to enlist your help to do so."

"You want me to attack the Charmed Ones? That could be profitable. Killing them would be a challenge and an honor. Not to mention the power it would bring me-" Dissid mused off. It was indeed an interesting proposition.

"NO," Wyatt interrupted the demon's thoughts, "at least not yet. However, you are welcome to another in their care, one who commands great power. That should tide you over until a leave with my bounty. Then, and only then," he emphasized, noting the intimidation in Dissid's eyes, "may you kill the sisters. Do we have an agreement?"

The demon didn't like taking orders. His very power was rooted in a hatred of orders, but the opportunity to match wits with the Charmed Ones was enough for him to make an exception.

"We do indeed"

Piper walked into the attic to find her sisters hard at work. Phoebe was collecting candles and arranging them in the center of the attic, and Paige was adding ingredients to the small cauldron on the potions table, and Connie was still contained on the couch, looking on. All three sets of eyes turned to Piper when she entered the room.

"What's going on here?" she asked, setting the baby monitor on the potions table, and looking at the recipe next to Paige.

"Umm, Piper," Phoebe began worriedly, ignoring her sister's question, "shouldn't someone stay with Chris, just in case Wyatt comes back?" She knew that Piper found it hard to be with Chris, because she felt like she was siding against her child, but that was no reason to feed the poor boy to the wolves.

"No," Piper explained, a little abashed, "I left an extra baby monitor in my room. I hid it under the nightstand after he fell asleep."

Phoebe just stared at her sister, contemplating the ridiculousness of the fact that she was using a baby monitor to spy on their whitelighter. Poor Chris's pride had really taken a beating this week. Paige too was contemplating the hilarity, but her sarcastic retort was cut off by hysterical laughter coming from the couch.

Connie couldn't help herself. It was so funny. She could just imagine poor Chris covered in chicken pocks, smothered in calamine lotion, waking up to see Piper had left a baby monitor in the room. She just wished she could see the look on his face. He had hated Piper babying him when he was younger, she couldn't imagine what he would say to her babying him when he was trying to be their whitelighter. He would probably get that look on his face that always reminded her of a cat being sprayed with water. His nostrils would flair, he'd run a hand through his hair, and…

The three women watched in shock as the woman doubled over in laughter, tears leaking from her eyes. She had cracked. Phoebe was sure of it. 'Terrific,' she thought, 'not only was her nephew evil, and her whitelighter sick, now their hostage had lost her mind.'

"Did Chris say whether or not we could trust her?" Paige asked. She had forgotten that Connie was even in the room. After her initial comments, the girl had just sat on the sofa, silently watching them.

"He doesn't know, but he thinks it's likely. And I know he's telling the truth," she continued, seeing the skepticism on her sisters' faces, "he was honest with me. I believe him. He said that the two of them and Wyatt had been friends as kids, but he hadn't seen her in years. He even told me things about the future," Piper finished proudly.

Phoebe smiled with her, thankful that their whitelighter seemed to be loosening up some.

"Great," Paige said wryly, "so we get rid of one enigmatic future person just to gain another."

"Who says I'm enigmatic?" Connie asked, finally regaining control of herself. She hadn't laughed like that in a long time. It felt nice. "You haven't even asked me anything."

Paige was startled. It hadn't even occurred to them to actually ask her. Chris was so tight-lipped, she just assumed that Connie would be too.

"So what," Phoebe asked, "you're just going to tell us whether or not you're evil?"

Connie pursed her lips in annoyance. "Obviously that would be pointless, but that doesn't mean I'm 'enigmatic.' What do you want to know? What do I need to tell you for you to trust me?"

"Why don't we start with, what's your name and why are you here?" Piper asked, crossing her arms and moving toward their prisoner. Paige got back to work on her potion, and Phoebe finished putting down the rest of the candles.

"Connie Halliwell," she stated. "And I was talking to Wyatt when he disappeared. I was concerned, so I cast a spell to take me to him."

"Halliwell?" Piper asked, still stuck on the first answer. "You're family?" All three sisters stared at her, each trying to find some similarity to their own faces.

"By marriage," she clarified. "I'm married to Wyatt." She saw that they were going to interrupt, and this was not a line of questioning she wanted to encourage, so she interrupted before they began. "It's a long and ridiculous story, which I'd rather not get in to. Anyway, I am not evil, and I do want to help get Wyatt back to our future before he destroys the past and keeps Chris from fulfilling his mission."

Piper was slightly more satisfied, Phoebe was a little disappointed, and Paige continued her work. Piper was trying to formulate her next question, when she was interrupted by the loud BANG of Paige's potion.

"I'll get back to you later," Piper warned Connie, turning to her sister. "YOU never answered my question. What are you guys up to? And where is Leo?"

"He went up to talk to the Elders about all of this, and as for us, we have a plan!" Paige exclaimed, moving away from her potion. "There's a 'To Heal a Heart' spell in the book that we think we can use to rid Wyatt's heart of the evil that infected him. But, Connie told us that in the future they had tried that and it didn't work, so we decided to get a little extra power."

"Extra power?"Piper asked, concerned that there would be future consequences.

"Yup," Phoebe chimed in, "I'm summoning Mom and Grams now. Paige thought maybe Grams could call forth the Halliwell line like we did for his wicccaning, to increase the power of the spell."

"So what's the potion for?" Piper asked, heartened by the fact her sisters seemed to have a plan.

"Well these," Paige explained, pointing to the vials on her left, "are stunning potions, to give us time to say the spell. And this one," she pointed to the caldron, "is a potion to increase the efficacy of the spell. Grams and I worked on it last time she was here, but I haven't been able to get it just right. I'm hoping that she can help me with it when we summon her."

"Which I am about to do," Phoebe added, lighting the last candle.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Dissent in the Ranks**

Paige and Grams stood over the stove in the kitchen. They had brought the ingredients for the potion downstairs, and the potion was simmering. Phoebe was sitting at the kitchen table, reworking the spell so that it would call upon the magic of the Warren line. Connie too sat at the table, offering the occasional suggestion or piece of information about the future. The sisters had decided that they should bring her downstairs to keep an eye on her. They still didn't trust her completely, but they figured between the three of them, they could overpower her if need be.

"Ok, put in the ginseng root, and then stir counter-clockwise fifteen times," Grams commanded Paige. She then started chopping up herbs. Paige was a little annoyed. Grams had been ordering her around ever since they'd summoned her. She put up with it though. It was her Grams, who she loved and respected. "How's that spell coming Phoebe?"

"It's coming," Phoebe snapped, swatting Connie's hand as she tried to make a change to the spell _again_. "I'm nearly done. And the potion?"

"Probably-"

"Five minutes," Grams interrupted Paige before she could finish.

Upstairs, Patty and Piper stood over Wyatt's crib. Patty was cooing over her grandson, glad to be able to be in his life, even after hers was over.

"I can't believe he came back evil," Patty lamented, picking up the toddler. "He's so sweet! Aren't you? You just are. And we're going to make sure you stay that way. Yes we are."

Piper smiled. It was nice to have her mother here; nice that she could be with her grandson. So often she wished she could turn to her mother for advice on raising a child; especially now.

"So where is this whitelighter I've heard about? The one that came all the way from the future to save my grandbaby," she asked, still talking to Wyatt, though the question was directed at Piper.

The two women walked into Piper's bedroom to find Chris slowly coming to. Piper was struck once again by how young he looked. He was Wyatt's age. She was eager to meet his mother and see what little kid Chris was like.

"How long have I been out?" he asked groggily. He felt more rested than he had in years, and the itching had subsided a lot. All in all, he felt downright content.

"A few hours," Piper answered. "Could you be a little more lazy?" she asked acidly. "I thought you came back here to save my son, not sleep in my bed and make me your personal nurse?"

Chris immediately snapped awake. Had she really just said that to him? After he had opened up to her and answered all of her questions? What had he done to deserve that?

"Piper!" Patty admonished, cuddling little Wyatt closer to her chest, trying to shield him from hearing his mother be so cruel.

"Oh shut it Mom! You have no idea what I'm going through here. You left when I was a kid, and now you think you can just pop in and out whenever you'd like to play with my son?"

Piper didn't know where that hostility had come from. One minute she was drawing strength from her family, and the next she felt so mutinous. She wanted to fight with everyone. Why was she working with this neurotic, lying, whitelighter? Why was she letting her mother come back into her life and make her feel like a bad mother? Her next attack, however, was cut off by Chris, who had risen from the bed and was advancing on her.

"Well I wouldn't have had to come back if you had kept an eye on your son to begin with. He grew up to destroy the world, because you were too focused on your _normal life_." He was vehement in his reply. How dare she question _him_? This was the first time he'd slept for more than a couple of hours in nearly five years, and _she_ was making him feel guilty about it?

"That's enough you two!" Patty yelled, getting between them. "Piper! You will not talk to me like that. I came back here because you asked me, and _you_ are not going to make us feel guilty about something we have no control over." Patty was livid. It's not like she had chosen to die. It had been so hard, and it got harder every time she came back. She was there to help her daughter, and Piper was treating her like the enemy. And this _whitelighter_ didn't seem very trustworthy to her.

Piper ignored her mother, and turned her gaze on the insolent whitelighter. How dare he? She was _not_ a bad mother, just because she wanted a normal life.

"_Really_ Chris? How do we even know we can trust you? One night of truth, if it was the truth, doesn't make up for months of lies and manipulations. Maybe I _chose_ wrong?" she snarled, purposefully throwing his earlier words back at him.

It was as if she had slapped him. He had opened up to her last night, and now she was using that against him. She didn't believe him; she didn't trust him; she didn't even _like_ him. He was so angry, and frustrated, and hurt. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. In a panic, he orbed away.

_Dissid stood by and watched his plan unfold. It was working perfectly. He could feel the hostility and mutiny building, and his power grew with each hurtful comment. He had subtly shifted his power at the whitelighter, making him the pariah of the group. It had worked magnificently. Once the boy was separated from his protectors, Dissid shimmered back downstairs to monitor the progress of his of his other project._


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Ouch**

"Would you stop adding things to _my _potion," Paige snapped. "I know what I am doing, and I don't need you constantly hovering and correcting me!" She turned toward Grams, hands on hips, and scowl on face.

"If you didn't need me, then _why_ did you summon me?" Grams countered. "I was a witch _much_ longer than you, and so it is _my_ experience and _my_ opinion that we will use."

"And whose fault is that?" Phoebe piped in, rising indignantly from the table. "If you hadn't bound our powers as kids, you wouldn't have been a witch that _much longer than us_. Maybe that's the real reason," she challenged, "you didn't want the competition."

"You will not talk to me like that Phoebe Halliwell! I did that to protect you and your sisters," Grams scolded.

"At least she cared enough about you to bind your powers," Paige retorted, "she just helped mom get rid of me. Apparently, I'm not worth protecting."

Dissid shimmered back down in the kitchen to survey his handiwork. He had set the fight in motion here before moving upstairs. Since then, the hostility had worsened exponentially. The demon paused by the two sisters in the kitchen for a moment to absorb the seeds of dissent. It was so strong. Especially the middle sister. She was an empath, which made his powers even stronger. He wanted so bad to separate her from the group and feed from her, but he had promised Wyatt, so instead he turned to the one he _was _allowed to feed from.

Chris orbed into P3, still working to block off his emotional pain. He sunk into the sofa, absently scratching at the chicken pocks on his neck. The past few days of rest had helped. He felt a lot stronger, but he would've gladly traded his strength for the ability to take back what he had said to his mom. He didn't know where that had come from. One moment he was enjoying feeling like he was part of their family again, and the next, he wanted to do was revolt. Revolt? That reminded him of-

"You really shouldn't scratch. It might leave a scar."

Chris was on his feet immediately. How could he have been so stupid? He was so distracted by his fight with Piper that he hadn't bothered to sense if anyone was in the room before he orbed in. Now he was caught in a tight spot. He had to choose between staying and facing his brother, or running to the sisters for help, and he needed to decide quickly.

"Do you want to come willingly? Or am I going to have to drag you back?" From the smirk on Wyatt's face, Chris could tell he was hoping for the latter.

Chris had learned his lesson over the years, so he didn't pause. Attacking immediately instead. He sent Wyatt into the nearest wall telekinetically, not bothering with the pretense of using his hands. His brother hadn't been expecting it, so he didn't have time to defend against it. While Wyatt attempted to recover, Chris orbed out.

Connie had been shocked when Paige had suddenly launched a verbal attack on Grams, calling her a controlling-heartless-witch, and Phoebe had turned to Paige and blamed her for the loss of Cole. This wasn't like the sisters. It had to be some kind of…Dissid. She realized that must have been who infected them. Wyatt had been fascinated with the story when he was younger, so she too knew it well. The demon would attack groups of people, breeding discontent among them, until one was forced from the group, Dissid would sweep in and drain the life force from the victim, who no longer had the will to fight him off.

"Chris" she breathed in panic, believing him to be the most likely target.

"Don't even get me started on that manipulative-"Phoebe growled, turning on Connie.

"Enough." Connie commanded.

Phoebe paused. That one word had been said with such force, and yet no emotion passed across the young woman's face, though Phoebe noticed that the pendant around her neck glowed.

Dissid was furious. She was meant to be his reward, but she was wholly unaffected by his spell. He felt no emotions coming from her whatsoever, only an annoying calm. That witch had tricked him!

"Why aren't you affected?" he snarled in a rage, becoming visible and advancing on Connie, fireball in hand.

The mood of the room changed palpably as the spell broke. Dissids power to provoke dissidence apparently didn't work when he was visible. Instead, he had to rely on fireballs like all the other demons.

The women in the kitchen were about to move into action when Chris orbed in their midst, a frantic look on his face. He noticed the demon in the kitchen, but ignored it. He had bigger priorities.

"Wyatt's right behind me," he explained. "We need a plan."

"Already got one," Paige said proudly, picking up one of the stunning potions. "And as for you-" Paige threatened, preparing to throw one of the vials at the demon in the kitchen, but he disappeared before she got the chance. "Where did he go?" she asked.

"I don't know where _he_ is, but I'm here," Wyatt mocked, entering into the kitchen. "Now give me Chris, and nobody gets hurt."

Paige immediately threw the vial in her hand, but Wyatt deftly deflected it into a nearby wall, with only a quick flick of the risk. His eyes then turned toward Paige as he gave a confident smirk.

"It's going to take more than that, _Aunt Paige_," he mocked. "Dissid?" Wyatt asked, turning to an empty space in the kitchen.

"_Sorry _sire_, you're on your own," _Dissid's disembodied voice floated through the kitchen. "_I __**will**__ get my bounty though_." The thin air then shimmered, signaling the demon's departure.

"Why you little-" Wyatt's murderous threat was cut off when he suddenly dropped to the floor unconscious, revealing a despondent Piper standing behind him, a second vile still in her hand.

"Well? Are we doing this or what?" Piper asked, stepping past her unconscious son. She couldn't believe she had just done that. He was her son. She had just thrown a stunning potion at her own son. She was such a bad—no, now was not the time for this. Now was the time to make things right. "Let's say the spell already."

Before she joined her sisters, Piper looked across the kitchen at Chris, offering an apologetic smile. She was heartened when he returned it.

The powerful emotional exchange went unnoticed by most of the rest of the room, however, as Grams summoned the spirits of the Warren line. Within moments, the kitchen was filled with ethereal women, gazing on intently.

"Ladies," Grams instructed, "we need your help. Evil has infected our progeny, and we are going to save him. Do we have your consent?" The spirits all nodded in agreement, and so the sisters, Patty, and Penny joined together to read from the paper in Phoebe's hands. Meanwhile, Paige had filled a vile with the other potion, and threw it at Wyatt's prone form. Then all began chanting:

_Seed of darkness in this son,_

_We wish its influence soon be done_

_From power of those gathered here_

_We command it now to disappear_

The spell quickly began to take effect. A dark, inky cloud seeped from beneath Wyatt's chest. It slowly leached forth and covered his form in a murky film, obscuring him from view. For a moment, everyone held their breath, including those who had none.

Then, like before, another cloud began to emerge from the darkness, this one much more beautiful. It looked so pure. It was so radiant as to defy description. This new cloud, slowly destroyed the murky film, and then it too dissipated.

Piper almost didn't recognize the form that was left behind. Physically, he looked the same, but there was something more there now. He looked…innocent. His features had softened, and a small smile graced his lips. It wasn't the same as the evil smirk that she had come to dread seeing. This one looked almost angelic.

The members of the Warren line, sensing they were no longer needed, moved on, though Patty and Penny stayed behind. The seven remaining people stared down at the insentient witch before them. After a moment, he eyes began to flutter, and he let out a soft groan.

"What happened?"

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for the reviews! It makes law school so much nicer, when I get the occasional 'review alert' e-mail. I hope y'all are enjoying it, and trust me, it's only going to get better from here. We have a wonderful, long, and twisting plot ahead of us.

Just

You

Wait


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Coming to Terms**

Everyone just stood around shocked. What do you say to someone who turned evil and destroyed the world? Connie stepped forward and helped Wyatt to his feet, while Chris walked into the kitchen.

"How can we be sure it worked?" Grams asked bluntly. "He doesn't look any different to me."

"I can see the change," Piper replied. "The change is in his eyes."

"Plus, I could sense when he was evil, and he isn't now," Phoebe bolstered her sister's assertion.

"I still think we need to find a way to be sure," Paige said, shooting a regretful look at her sisters.

"Hold this," Chris ordered as he placed a crystal in Wyatt's open palm. Wyatt was still a little disoriented, so he just did as he was told. Chris then sprinkled some potion ingredients over the crystal. "It's an old spell to tell if someone is evil. The crystal turns black for evil or pink for good. It's a similar concept to Paige's demonic alarm system." He had done the same spell a few times previous to see if little Wyatt had been turned yet. He needed to be certain before he could even contemplate what this meant.

After a moment, the crystal turned pink and every let out a sigh of relief.

"Told you," Piper said, moving in to hug her son. "I'm so glad that you're ok!" she cooed. "Now we need to do something about that hair…"

"And I suppose that is our cue to leave," Grams lamented.

"Do we have to?" Patty asked. "We could stay a little longer. Help keep my grandson good, and find that new demon."

"Patty, this isn't our place. We did what we came here to do, and now we need to go."

"Besides," Chris explained, "if the demon is who I think he is, he gains his power from the size of the group he's destroying. The more people, the more dissidence, and the more dissidence, the more power."

"Fine," Patty gave-in, "I just miss you all so much!"

The two women said their goodbyes, and Paige took them upstairs to help send them back.

It had been so awkward. Chris couldn't take it, so he had made up an excuse about a demon and orbed away. He didn't know what to say, or what to feel. He just needed to be away.

"Not many demons around here," Connie commented, when she caught up with Chris at the Golden Gate Park. He barely acknowledged her presence, and instead continued to gaze into space.

"You need to talk to him," she stated simply, joining him on the stone bench. "You need to forgive him."

"I do. That's the problem," he finally answered. "The moment I knew he was good again, all I wanted to do was forgive him. He's my brother."

"But you feel guilty," she finished. She had heard what had happened to Bianca, and she was sure Chris was still crushed.

"How could I forgive so easily? After everything he did? He exposed magic, destroyed the world, killed members of our family, killed Bianca. What do I say after that?"

"He needs to know that you forgive him, and that you realize it wasn't him that did all of those things. He just needs your support," she answered gently.

"What about you?" Chris asked suddenly. "Why are you so quick to forgive? He's not your family."

"I know what it's like. My father was the source of all evil," she explained. He knew all of this, but he had never really made the connection before. "I know what it's like to stand in a room and know that everyone is wondering if you're going to suddenly attack, wondering if you're evil. I grew up with people scrutinizing my every move, because they were so terrified that the prophecy would come true, and I'd become the next Source. After a while, _I_ wasn't even sure if I was good."

"Connie-" Chris started to comfort her.

"No," she interrupted, "it's not me that needs your support right now. Go talk to your brother."

"But-"

"No buts. GO. I'll poke around the underworld for information on Dissid or whoever turns Wyatt."

Realizing she was right, and that it was pointless to argue, Chris orbed back to the manner.

Wyatt had come upstairs to be alone for a while. He appreciated his mom and aunts trying to help him through this, but he needed time to think. So he came up here to look through the book. He found it reassuring. It reminded him of all those that had come before, all those that had fought for the greater good.

"Can we talk?" Chris asked hesitantly, as he entered the attic. It was weird. His brother still looked exactly the same, even though so much had changed.

"Chris, I am so-"

"Don't. Wyatt you don't have to apologize. I know it wasn't you. Something got to you and made you evil. It wasn't your fault, and I don't blame you." He wanted his brother to understand. He wanted to make sure that Wyatt knew that Chris was trying to help.

"How? How can you forgive me? I exposed magic. I wrecked the city. I killed your fiancé and married your high school girl friend," Wyatt said earnestly. He had so much guilt.

"Wyatt, it's—wait what? You married Connie?" Chris was trying to be supportive, but this was news to him.

"Yeah," Wyatt admitted. "I figured if I married the heir to the Source, it would help cement my throne. It wasn't willing," he added, hoping to make it better. "I threatened to kill her little brother," he finished, his voice once again laden with guilt.

"Well that doesn't matter either. Like I said, you weren't yourself. Besides, I'm totally over her."

"Yeah, I believe you. Just like you weren't jealous when she started dating Brock, the football team captain," Wyatt teased. It felt good to tease his little brother again. It felt good to have a normal conversation that didn't revolve around the fact that he was evil.

"Hey," Chris objected," but that aside. We're going to fix it. I'll fix the past and you can fix the future. It'll all work out."

"What do you mean?" Wyatt asked. "I'm staying back here and helping keep…well me, from becoming evil."

"No," Chris stated, "You have to go back to the future. We can't risk you being back here when the timeline changes. I don't want you to have to remember the other timeline. It'll be better if I stay here, and you try to fix the future. Just in case I fail."

"I don't want you to have to do this alone," Wyatt argued. "Besides, you shouldn't be the one to have to remember everything. It was my fault, and I should have to live with that."

"_NO_," Chris emphasized. "I came back here to save you and that's what I'm going to do. Besides, we may not even have to worry about me remembering things in the future. There's a very real possibility that I won't be there," he finished, sinking into the couch.

"What do you mean?" Wyatt asked, coming over to sit next to his brother.

"I split up Mom and Dad to make room for me as their whitelighter. I thought that if I split them up now, they'd have to get together to make me, and then Dad would want to stay this time. He would've already learned he didn't want to be an Elder and maybe he and Mom would stay together, but it backfired. Now Dad is an Elder, and Mom is dating a fireman, and I have to be conceived in the next twenty-four hours."

"Wh-wh-wh-what? I can't believe you would do that!" Wyatt yelled in a panic. "You can't not be born. After everything I've done to you, I'm not going to be the reason you aren't born too. We're going to fix this. Come on baby-bro, we need to go talk to Mom," he ordered, walking from the room. Chris was simultaneously heartened and insulted. _Baby bro_. How dare he. He wasn't a baby.

"We can't just tell her," he argued, walking after him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Wyatt walked purposefully into the kitchen, intent on confronting his mother, and making sure he didn't end up an only child. Chris hurried in behind him, equally intent on stopping his brother. Piper, Paige, Phoebe, and Connie were all sitting around the kitchen table, and judging by the fact that they all stopped talking when the men entered the room, they were discussing Wyatt.

"Hi boys!" Connie greeted. "I'm glad you're here. Now go pretty up for mama cuz you're taking me out for a night on the town."

"Connie," Chris admonished, "now is really not the time. We still need to find Dissid and figure out who originally changed Wyatt." Chris was glad that she had distracted Wyatt from his mission, but they still had much more pressing issues.

"I'm with Chris," Wyatt admitted, when she turned to him. "I need to start undoing everything I've done. I have a lot to make up for." Besides, he needed to make sure his brother was born.

The look on her son's face broke Piper's heart. He had so much guilt, and she had no idea how to help assuage it. Maybe Connie was right, maybe the boys did need some fun.

"Come on," Connie goaded, "our future sucks! This could be our last chance to have fun for a _loooong_ time."

"Sorry," Wyatt mumbled, "it's my fault the future is so sucky."

"No it's not," Connie encouraged. "Innocent agent doctrine," she offered as way of explanation.

"Innocent agent doctrine?" Phoebe repeated.

"Yeah, whereby if a person uses an innocent person for nefarious purposes, the innocent person is not liable, but the original person is," she clarified, as if it were obvious.

"Ignore her," Chris mused, "her father was a lawyer. Apparently it's contagious."

"Ha Ha," Connie replied dryly. "Regardless of _that_, we are going out tonight, because I said so. We need to celebrate Wyatt being de-eviled, and the fact that Chris seems to no longer be contagious. And you," Connie interrupted whatever Wyatt was going to say, "are, at least for now, legally obligated to listen to my views and agree with me. That makes it two against one, which means we're going."

"Actually," Chris disagreed smugly, "because you're still married, you are only one legal person, so it is one against one."

"Yeah, about that," Wyatt spoke up, "I want a divorce."

"Not until I win the argument," Connie quipped.

"That won't be necessary," Piper cut in, "because I'm exercising the mom veto."

"Wow," Phoebe commented to Paige, "it really is contagious."

"Shush," Piper admonished, "I'm exercising the mom veto to say that you're going. I'll reserve a booth at P3, and comp the food and drinks. There's supposed to be a pretty good up-and-coming band tonight too. I think they're called The Rolling Tide?"

"Oh," Chris finally realized, "that's why you want to go out tonight."

"How cool would it be to say that we saw them before…you know?" Connie argued. "And we _are _in need of some fun."

"Oooooo," Paige interrupted sneakily, "are they going to be really big?"

"Future consequences," all three future people replied together, which elicited glares from the others in the room.

"Besides," Phoebe changed the subject back, "with the future people occupied, we can drop baby Wyatt off at Sheila's, and you and Greg can have the house all to yourselves," Phoebe insinuated at her sister with a wink.

"Eeeeeew!" the future people chorused again.

"I think that mental image is sufficient punishment to counteract all of the evil I did," Wyatt stated dryly.

"Let's not subject our nephew to stories of his mother's sexcapades, shall we?" Paige joked.

The revelry of the room broke off when Leo orbed into the room.

"Piper I need to talk to you," Leo said, turning urgently to his ex-wife.

"Not right now Leo," she said, "I need to go get ready for my date with Greg," and she promptly left the room.

"Apparently we need to go get ready to go out tonight too," Chris sighed. "Let's go."

"Yeah," Wyatt said looking at a nearest window. "I need to do something to make me look a little less…ummm"

"Evil?" Connie offered. "Sounds like a plan."

"I'll call Sheila and see if she minds watching Wyatt for tonight, and then take him over," Paige offered, walking in to the living room.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Pranks**

"So what are we going to do?" Wyatt asked. The two men sat in the attic once again. They had gone back to P3 to change for their 'night on the town.' Wyatt had shaved, and Connie had cut his hair, so it was shorter and preppier. Then she had conjured the three of them new clothes for going out. The boys got ready earlier, as usual, so they made an excuse and orbed to the attic, while Connie finished getting ready.

Chris had finally convinced Wyatt that just telling their parents to conceive a child was probably not a good idea, so they were brainstorming new possibilities.

"I have no idea," Chris admitted. "Greg is going to be here any minute to pick up Mom for their date. Phoebe and Paige have already vacated the house, and left Wyatt at Sheila's, and we're being forced to go have fun. Maybe we should just come to terms with the fact that you're meant to be an only child."

"While that does have possibilities," Wyatt winked, "I'm not ready to give up yet. In fact, I think I have an idea. Remember Brock?" The way Wyatt's eyes were twinkling made it apparent that he had a plan, and it was a good one.

"Yeah," Chris said, still confused as to where this was going, "what about him?" Wyatt just raised his eyebrow, and Chris understood. "Oh! Ok, well I think I just heard Greg pull up, so you take care of that, and I'll go find Leo."

The boys shared an impish look before Chris orbed away, and Wyatt walked downstairs.

"Hi Greg," Piper greeted, as she let him into the house. "Come in. Dinner is already on the table." She was so nervous. Tonight was going to be the night that she and Greg finally made love. Was she sure?

"Hi Piper," he replied, kissing her on the cheek. "It smells delicious."

"Thanks. I made stuffed pork chops, baby carrots, and French peas. There's also tiramisu for dessert," Piper explained, as she led Greg into the dining room.

"I was talking about you," he replied suavely, kissing her on the lips. The kiss deepened, but Piper couldn't enjoy it. She kept thinking about what Chris had told her about her getting back with Leo. Was that possible? Did she want that? What were they supposed to do together to save the world?

What was that on Greg's face?

When Piper pulled away from Greg, she noticed his face had become covered in orange splotches, and they were spreading.

"What is it?" Greg asked, noting the look on Piper's face. Then, he started scratching. And scratching and scratching and- "I think I'm allergic to something," he mumbled.

Piper was trying to decide what to do, and Greg was scratching uncontrollably, when Leo orbed in. Piper couldn't believe it! He had just orbed in right in front of Greg. She couldn't believe he would do something like that. Of all the irresponsible, careless, reckless, foolish—

Her thoughts were cut off when Leo strolled forward and punched Greg in the face. The fireman flew across the room, falling crumpled in the living room.

"Leo!" Piper yelled. What was going on here? This was ridiculous. Was fate punishing her for some unknown transgression.

"I'm sorry Piper," Leo said, still advancing on Greg, "but I love you, and I can't let you date this jerk. He's not right for you. It's me, choose me!" Leo was yelling by this point. "I'll do anything. I'll-" whatever his offer, Piper never heard it, because Greg had risen and decided to return the favor.

Soon it was an all out brawl. Greg was nearly completely orange, and he and Leo were wrestling on the floor. Fists were flying, and insults were being yelled. Piper didn't know what to do. She was so angry that she was afraid she'd blow them up if she tried to freeze them. Though she did have a strong desire to blow Leo up.

"Have you seen the- " Connie asked, walking in to the living room and noticing the fight. She had borrowed a stunning red dress from Phoebe and spent hours on hair and make-up. Suddenly, she was wondering if it was all for nothing. "What the hell is going on here?"

"I don't know," Piper explained, moving into the entry way. "One second we were fine, and the next, Greg started breaking out in orange hives, and Leo orbed in professing his undying love."

"Brock," Connie grimaced. "Just keep them from killing each other. I'll be right back," Connie ordered enigmatically, as she moved to march upstairs.

Piper, deciding she was finally calm enough, froze the men and waited for Connie to return, which didn't take long.

Connie shimmered into the room, Chris and Wyatt on either side of her. Both had a mix of contrition and pain on their faces. The former from seeing the state of the room, the latter because Connie was holding one of their ears in each of her hands.

"What is-" Piper started to ask.

"FIX. THIS. NOW." Connie ordered, looking at the men on either side of her. They fidgeted for a moment, but finally gave in, each mumbling some sort of spell under their breath. While the men were still frozen, at least Greg's splotches were gone. "GO. KITCHEN. NOW." She let go of their ears, and Wyatt and Chris did as she'd told.

"I'm sorry Piper," Connie apologized. "It seems as if Spanky and Alfalfa decided to play a little trick on your date. I'll take care of this, and we can clean up the room. You and Greg have fun."

"Thanks," was all Piper could think to say. How was she going to explain this? What exactly was this?

"I can't believe you two!" Connie yelled. Wyatt and Chris were sitting at the kitchen table, looking deservedly ashamed. They hadn't meant for things to get so out of control. They just didn't want Piper going out with Greg tonight.

"Were you even thinking of Piper? She's been through so much in the past few months, and you're messing with her heart, and that's not fair. She's doing everything she can to move on. Do you know how hard it is for someone to get over the love of their life? How much effort it takes to get up every morning, knowing that the love of your life is off-limits. Knowing that when things get tough, you know longer have that one person to turn to. She was going to have one night for her and the two of you—you—How could you?"

"Are we still talking about Piper?" Chris asked, suggesting that there might be more going on here. Connie had really been looking forward to going out, and as far as losing the love of your life…

"SHUSH," she ordered. "And you!" she advanced on Chris, "Wyatt is newly good, and you are a horrible influence. You are supposed to be the responsible one, helping him get used to being good, and-"

"It was my idea," Wyatt admitted, cutting her off.

"It was, was it?" Piper asked, walking into the kitchen, a very embarrassed, and slightly bruised, Leo behind her.

"Is there something you would both like to say?" Connie asked, turning back to the men at the table.

"Sorry Piper," they both said.

"And"

"And we'll clean up the living room," Chris added

"And"

Wyatt and Chris just looked at each other, confused.

"I believe she's hinting you might want to apologize to Leo," Piper suggested with great emphasis.

The boys paused uncomfortably. Finally, they chorused, "Sorry."

"Where's Greg?" Connie asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"He decided to go home. Leo used some memory dust on him, but the mood was kind of ruined. In fact, I think the relationship was a little ruined," she lamented.

"Oh Piper," Connie cried, "I'm _so_ sorry."

"No," Piper sighed, "it was just as well. He wasn't really the one." She felt so alone. She had wanted just one night in consoling arms. The past few days had been so horrible. "Anyway, weren't you three going out tonight? It's nearly nine."

"Umm…maybe we should-" Chris started

"NO," Connie interrupted, stomping her foot. "We're going, just as soon as you too take care of the disaster area in the living room."

"Leave it," Piper allowed, "it'll still be there tomorrow," she added with a significant look at the boys. "Go."

The three future people paused for a moment, but then they joined hands and orbed out. Leaving only Piper and Leo.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Don't Think**

"So," Piper said awkwardly. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something earlier?"

"Yeah," Leo started. He didn't know how to go about talking about this. "I was up with the Elders, and…well after seeing Wyatt evil…umm…"

"Leo, can you please just spit it out already," she interrupted impatiently.

"I petitioned the Elders to demote me back to a whitelighter," the words tumbled out of his mouth without his volition.

_Silence_

"You wh-wh-whaat?" Piper asked. How could he just drop that on her? What did this mean? Did he want to get back together?

"When I saw that Wyatt was evil, I realized that I'm needed here. He's one of the most powerful magical beings to ever exist, and his magic needs to be nurtured. I explained to the Elders that the greater would be better served by having me more accessible to my child," he explained.

Piper was still in shock. She'd worked so hard to get over him, and now he was coming back. In that moment, she suddenly felt so tired. So tired of being brave, of being strong, of being _alone_. Screw her pride.

"Now, I don't want you to think that I think this means we can just get back together. I know everything you went through with me being an Elder—"

"Let's just skip it," Piper interjected. "Just for tonight, let's pretend it's like it used to be; like we were still together. The last few days have been so awful, and I need it to be like it was. I need you to hold me and tell me everything is going to be ok, because I'm not sure that it is. So please, we'll deal with the consequences and the 'where are we now' stuff in the morning. Tonight-" she hesitated, unsure of what his response would be, 'I need you."

He didn't think. He didn't pause. He didn't even blink.

Immediately his lips were pressed against hers, with an urgency he didn't think he had ever felt before. It was as if they had never been apart, as if he had never made the worst decision of his life. He broke apart, looking into the eyes of his true love, and he knew that he would win her back. Not just for tonight, but forever. He had to.

Hey guys! Thanks again for the reviews and stuff. Dan, as far as why it didn't work in the future, you're right. I should've been more explicit about it. In Chris Crossed, they say that the Charmed Ones were vanquished, so they aren't around to do the spell. There are some holes which I meant to close, but I forgot. Sorry, and you're not an a**.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"You mean they haven't agreed yet?" Piper asked threateningly.

She had awoken feeling so peaceful this morning, with Leo's arms surrounding her. It felt so right. Piper had wanted to stay like the forever, but then, he had dropped the bombshell.

"No, that's why I said I had _petitioned _them. They said they needed some time to deliberate on the issue. I was going to tell you that, but then everything happened, and…"

"OUT!" Piper yelled, flinging her arm toward the door, as she did, a vase went flying off of the dresser into a nearby wall.

"What was that?"

"I think you just used telekinesis," Leo guessed warily.

"Ok, but _how_," she emphasized. "I don't have that power. Paige has that power. Why do I have Paige's power?"

"I don't know. Do you still have your power? Try and freeze me." He suggested. She nodded, and did as he asked. He froze. But what did that mean?

"You froze," she explained once he had unfrozen. "I'll go talk to the sisters, and you can go talk to the Elders." The last word was said with such venom that Leo flinched, but he didn't want to leave it like this.

"Piper," he coaxed, gently grabbing her arm as she moved to leave the room. "It's going to work out. I'm not going to take no for an answer. I'm not going to abandon my family again." He lightly caressed her cheek, and then orbed away.

"Damn him!" she sighed. But as much as she tried, to regret last night, to hate him, she couldn't.

"What if we trap the two of them alone on the astral plain, and make the only way for them to escape is to conceive me?" Chris asked. They had been brainstorming all night. Literally. In fact, Connie had gotten so annoyed that she refused to sit with them at P3 while the band was playing.

"I don't know. That seems a little…icky," Wyatt commented, as he picked up the pieces of debris from the floor in the living room.

"Do _you_ want to come up with a plan?" Chris asked. "I'm running out of ideas!"

"Ideas about what?"Piper asked, walking into the room. She had just returned from picking baby Wyatt up from Sheila's, and was holding him on her hip.

"Nothing," they both said at the same time, a little too innocently. She could tell they were up to something, but at this point, she didn't really care. She had bigger issues.

"Have either of you seen Paige?" she asked, noting the dark circles under both of their eyes.

"Yeah, she's coffee hunting in the kitchen," Wyatt replied. "Is everything ok?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I think I used telekinesis this morning. It was strange. I need to see if Paige still has her powers. When you two are done here, I'll make pancakes," she offered, bustling toward the kitchen.

"I thought we still had another twelve hours?" Wyatt whispered when their mother was out of sight.

"Apparently my math was off…But yay conception!" Chris celebrated, "and eeeew Mom and Dad having sex..." he added later.

"That's great!" Wyatt exclaimed. "Now we can tell them who you are."

"NO!" Chris yelled, louder than he meant. "No we cannot," he repeated in a hushed whisper, hoping the sisters hadn't heard his prior outburst. "It will make things harder, and I just can't deal with that."

"Chris," Wyatt argued, "it will make things _easier_. Besides, I don't want to leave you back here all alone without them knowing who you are. That's not fair, to you or them. What do you think they'll say in twenty-three years when they realize who you were? And what if they choose a different name this time? This could have serious consequences. You need to tell them, and I'm not leaving until you do."

"Wyatt-"

"Oooooh! Pancakes!" Phoebe exclaimed, coming into the living room. "What happened in here? You know what, never mind. I'm going to go have pancakes and coffee, and _then_ you can tell me about whatever demon is after us now."

"I cannot believe you two," Paige said, when Wyatt and Chris joined the sisters in the kitchen. Piper was standing at the stove, and Paige and Phoebe were sipping coffee, while wiping tears of laughter from their eyes. "That is possibly the funniest story I have ever heard!"

"Yeah yeah," Piper said dryly. She still hadn't told them the news about Leo or about her telekinetic incident this morning. Both Paige and Phoebe had been all in a panic at the state of the living room, thinking that Dissid had finally attacked again. "Anyway, did either of you do some sort of a power switching spell?"

"No," Phoebe answered, pouring another cup of coffee, "why?"

"Because this morning I flung out my hand and my favorite vase went flying across the room, _telekinetically_."

"Cream," Paige called. The cream immediately came into her hand, and she poured it into her coffee. "My powers seem fine. I don't know why you'd suddenly get a new power. Do you think it's a demon?"

"I don't know what caused it either," Phoebe added, "but I think I know who does." She looked significantly at Chris and Wyatt. Chris was shaking his head emphatically, and Wyatt was glaring determinedly.

All eyes turned to them. Trapped.

"Congratulations!" Wyatt announced, "You're having a baby!" He decided to compromise by telling Piper she was pregnant, but not that it was Chris. He was hoping she would figure it out and save him the trouble.

"A baby?" Phoebe said shocked. "Did you and Greg…" she added, insinuation think in her voice.

"No," Piper answered, embarrassed. She hadn't wanted to discuss this, especially not in front of her child. "Ummm…Wyatt sweetie, will you go check and see if the clothes in the drier are done?"

"My pleasure," he answered, relieved for an excuse to leave the room.

"You know? I think I'll help," Chris added, following his brother from the room.

"Well don't leave us hanging," Paige said finally.

"This can't be right," Piper said softly. She couldn't be pregnant. _This_ was the thing Chris had mentioned she suddenly realized. This was the thing her and Leo were supposed to do.

"So you didn't have sex last night?" Paige asked bluntly, earning a look from Phoebe.

"Leo," Piper mumbled by way of explanation.

"What?" both sisters gasped at the same time.

"Sweetie, you spent so long getting over him and now—" Phoebe admonished

"I know that," Piper cut in. "After the prank incident, he told me that he had petitioned the Elders to be demoted to whitelighter, so that he could be around more for Wyatt, to keep him from becoming evil. And I was so upset about everything that had happened, and…"

"So he's coming home?" Phoebe was shocked, but excited for her sister.

"Well that's what I _thought_ that he meant, but apparently the Elders haven't decided yet. He's Up There finding out the verdict right now," she explained, bitterness still apparent in her voice.

"That's huge," Phoebe commented.

"Yeah whatever, tell us about the sex," Paige interrupted.

"How about not," Wyatt said, reentering the room with Chris behind him. "The clothes still need another few minutes."

Paige pouted a little at not getting to hear the sex details, but decided to let it go.

"So," Piper interjected, pouncing upon the opportunity for a subject change, "where is Connie this morning?" She didn't want to talk about the possibility she was pregnant. It was too soon, and too much. She would find out what the Elders said and talk to a doctor. _Then_ she would deal with this. For now, she wanted to focus on an easier topic: demons.

"She's in the underworld trying to figure out what happened to Dissid," Wyatt explained, grabbing a couple pancakes from the platter by the stove. Everyone else followed suit, and they sat down around the table in the dining room, including baby Wyatt who was cooing happily.

"Dissid," Paige groaned, "I had nearly forgotten about him. Why hasn't he attacked already? It's making me nervous. I wonder what he's up to."

Dissid stood before one whom he feared more than any other. This was the only demon that could protect him from the Charmed Ones, so he had decided to make a deal, and he was already regretting it. He'd spent days doing all sort of dirty work for this demon, to help the demon acquire some sort of child for its kingdom.

"I have done as you asked of me," Dissid stated, bowing deeply. "The mission is complete. Now will you assist me in _my_ mission. I need the Charmed Ones out of my way. One of their associates has been dogging me through the underworld for days. I'm not sure how much longer I can survive. Please, I ask your assistance."

"Fine," the other in the cavern replied. "I will aid you in killing the Charmed Ones. In fact, I believe I have the perfect plan."

**Ok, so I had a few reviews with questions that I hope were clarified here. Sorry. Random/awkward chapter markers tend to create ambiguity. Thanks for your comments though! Oh, and yes, there were in fact pancakes Dan. There _has_ to be pancakes ;-).


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Connie shimmered into another niche of the underworld. She had stopped by the manor earlier, and then rejoined the chase. She could tell she was getting close. Her sense of him was growing stronger. Growing up on Valhalla, she had learned how to track the magical trails of different beings, and Dissid's was growing stronger.

This area of the underworld seemed familiar. She didn't know why, but she could've sworn she'd been here before. She searched for the memory, but was soon distracted when Dissid materialized.

"I hear you've been looking for me," he smirked. "You were to be my bounty for distracting the Charmed Ones, and I _always_ get what's coming to me."

"Oh, you'll get what's coming to you," Connie smirked right back. "Did I seriously just say that?" she mumbled. "I've been in the underworld too long. Regardless, you will be mine demon."

"Do you honestly believe a little girl like you can take me on?" he said as he began to circle her, a fireball in either hand. Last time he had attempted to use his other powers, but he knew they would not work on her.

"I am the heir the Source's thrown, do you honestly believe I am afraid of you?"

She quickly conjured a knife and cut a piece of flesh from his arm. He was caught off guard, but soon regained his footing. He snarled and threw a fireball that grazed her shoulder. Then he scratched her arms. She kicked him across the cave, and moved in for the kill.

He moved to stand up, but stilled suddenly. He seemed to be listening to something, and was very upset by what he had heard. "FINE" he growled, and shimmered away.

Connie cautiously moved toward the scrap of cloth and flesh she had cut off, and picked it up. Dissid was working with someone, she was sure of it.

Phoebe was up in the attic looking through the book when Connie shimmered in, covered in scratches and bruises, and clutching a bloody scrap of cloth in her left hand.

"Oh my goodness!" Phoebe yelled, startled. "What happened to you?"

"I found Dissid," Connie answered dryly. "I'm fine, I just need a …Band-Aid."

"A Band-Aid?" Phoebe repeated incredulously. "What is it with you future people and being unable to ask for help? I'll call Leo."

"Chris said that Piper said he was in some sort of 'do-not-disturb-elder meeting.' Besides, it's not a mortal wound."

"What about Wyatt?" Phoebe was still concerned. The blood seemed to be flowing pretty freely.

"Him and Chris are looking for leads on who turns little Wyatt in the underworld. He can't hear our call. Don't worry, I've had much worse. Thanks," she added, when Phoebe passed her the first-aid kit. "I did manage to get this though."

"Gee thanks," Phoebe replied, accepting the chunk of flesh from the woman. "Dissid's I presume?"

"Yeah, I cornered him in the underworld. I seriously thought I had him, but he got away. I think someone might be helping him, though. This could be a trap, but at least now we can make the vanquishing potion." Connie finished taping up her shoulder, and packed up the first-aid kit. "Where are Piper and Paige? We should be able to scry for Dissid with that too."

"At Magic School," she answered, "whatever that is. She said something about 'Magical Mommy & Me?'"

"Oh good," Connie winked, excitement in her voice, "Wyatt needs to make some magical friends."

"Yeah, well after the Greg incident, I'm not sure if we're going to be able to handle Wyatt having magical friends," Phoebe laughed. "I still cannot believe them."

"Oh please," Connie scoffed," that was nothing. On the scale of pranks, that was maybe a two."

"I suppose that's why you knew they were the culprits?" Phoebe asked, as she started gathering potion ingredients to carry downstairs. "Will you grab the book?"

"Sure," Connie assented, grabbing it and following Phoebe downstairs. "Yeah, the first time I saw that particular spell it was interrupting a _very _important date. This guy named Brock had asked me out on a date. He was perfect. Captain of the football team; played the guitar; had the most exquisite body. Anyway," Connie restarted, rousing from her reminiscence, "he asked me out and we were supposed to go to the movies. But it turns out that he only wanted to go out with me because he heard that I was…easy." She said the last word with great detest.

"I understand," Phoebe cut in, once they got down to the kitchen. "My nickname in high school was Freebie."

"Ouch," Connie commiserated. "Anyway, half-way through my date I look over and he's starting to break out in horrible orange splotches. Then he starts spilling his guts about how he doesn't really like me; the flowers he brought were actually stolen from the hospital when he visited his grandmother, etc. I still can't believe the two of them did that, but I guess it was for the best in the end."

"Well I am definitely not looking forward to the mischief, but I'm glad Wyatt makes good friends."

Then, the two women set to work creating the vanquishing potion.

"This place is insane!" Paige exclaimed, for what must have been the fiftieth time.

"It is a little different," Piper agreed. "But I think it might be nice for Wyatt to have some magical friends. Especially if they end up being Chris and Connie."

As she spoke of Wyatt making friends, she looked over at the little girl he was playing with now. The girl must've been a conjurer, beacuse she had created a flower to give to Wyatt, who then orbed it back to her. The two onlookers smiled.

"Starting to warm up to Chris, huh?" Paige intimated. "But don't get me wrong, I think this is a great idea. A place where kids can come and learn to use their powers. Not that you weren't a great teacher, but it might've been nice to know this was here."

"I'm glad you approve," a deep voice interrupted. "Piper, Paige, I'm Gideon. I'm the Elder in charge of the school."

"It's nice to meet you," Piper replied, rising. "Leo mentioned you were one of the Elders that supported our marriage. Thank you for that."

"Don't mention in," Gideon replied, "would you like me to give you a tour of our campus?"

"No thanks," Piper answered, gazing back at her happy son. "I think I'd like to stay here."

"I wouldn't mind a tour," Paige offered. "Lead the way. I'll meet you back at the manor Piper?"

Piper nodded, and the two walked off.

"You're new here aren't you?" a woman asked, coming to take Paige's abandoned seat. She looked nice to Piper, and fairly normal. She wore jeans and a white blouse, and didn't seem to have horns or wings. "I'm Eva, and that's my little Roma over there."

"Hi," Piper responded, "Piper, and it looks like your Roma has made friends with my Wyatt."

"You know we're looking for teachers," Gideon stated.

Paige looked at him stunned for a moment. He had shown her the grounds, and it had been fascinating. She couldn't believe all of the people openly practicing magic. But to be a teacher? She had wanted a job. Temping wasn't as fulfilling a career as she had thought.

"When can I start?" She knew it was crazy to just decide on a career, but she was ready. She liked spontaneity, and this seemed a like a good cause.

"Next week?"

"So are we ready?" Piper asked, walking into the attic. "Let's get this demon!" Chris had come to Magic School to get Piper after about an hour. She had enjoyed mingling with the different mothers, and Wyatt had seemed to do better socializing with the magical children.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Wyatt asked nervously. "She's pregnant. It could be dangerous for her and the baby."

"Don't be ridiculous sweetie. This baby probably has the same force field as you did," Piper replied, going to look over the potions.

"Force field?" Chris asked incredulously. "He had his force field in the _womb_?"

"Yeah," Paige answered, "doesn't this kid?" She had come back before Piper, but hadn't had a chance to tell everyone about her new job. She still couldn't even believe she'd taken it.

Wyatt looked at Chris, hesitantly. "No. This kid doesn't have a force field." Wyatt could tell Chris was a little hurt, but he hid it well.

"I agree with Wyatt. You should stay behind. Connie said this thing might be a trap, and it will be safer this way. We can go with your sisters," Chris agreed.

"No," Wyatt interjected, "I think you should stay behind too. You and Connie should stay here and make sure Piper and little me are ok, I'll go with the aunts."

There was quite a bit more discussion of who should go and who should stay. Eventually the conversation deteriorated to:

"Why am I the one that has to stay behind with Piper? I've been in the past longer, so I should go, and _you_ should stay!" Chris shouted, his pride still stinging from the fact that Wyatt had powers in the womb.

Because!" Wyatt shouted back. "I'm holder, and she's _my_ mother." Wyatt knew the last statement crossed a line, but part of him hoped that Chris would crack and admit who he was, but sadly, he was much too stubborn for that.

"Fine, we'll stay," he pouted.

"I'm glad my opinion means something," Connie added with an eye roll.

Hey guys! Sorry I'm such a bad poster. It's been a crazy summer. I'm going to try to get in a few more chapters today. Something big is coming…I promise.

Thanks to all the people that reviewed and encouraged me to keep going!


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"With all due respect," began Dissid, "I despise this plan. First you have me allow that witch to slice of my arm, and you do not allow me to kill her, and now-"

"Patience," Dissid's demon protector counseled, "this will work. Besides, did you not hear what the witch said? _She_ is the heir of the Source. We need her alive to know what went wrong, so that we may fix it. Now, the plan-" He motioned and the rest of the beings in the room were cloaked. "Be brave Dissid."

"This does feel kind of trappy to me. Maybe Connie was right," Paige stated warily when they orbed into a clearing in a forest. They had scried using the blood from the piece of flesh and it had led them here.

Her suspicions were confirmed a moment later when a cage formed around the three witches, confining them. Wyatt tested the bars, but they seemed to be immune to his powers.

"Well I guess you were right," Phoebe commented dryly. "Now what?"

At that moment, they were suddenly surrounded by a host of magical creatures in a ring. There was an ogre, three fairies, a few leprechauns and dwarfs, a Cleaner, and a host of demons. All the creatures had red arm-bands on their right biceps with the letters SAMS.

"SAMS?" Paige commented. "The price club is after us?"

"Your humor is appreciated," the demon protecting Dissid commented wryly, "but I'm afraid you are mistaken. We are the Syndicate. The syndicate for the advancement of magical Supremacy. We have brought you here to recruit you to your cause."

"Your cause?" Phoebe asked incredulously. The demon looked like so many others they had faced. She was dressed somewhat slutty in a black dress. Her hair was a dark mass of curls on the top of her head.

"We came together as a wholly neutral group, tired of being forced to live in the shadows, tired of working so hard to make this world work as it should," she ranted, motioning to the beings around her, who nodded in approval. "We are here to offer you a place amongst us. WE are a neutral group formed to reassert our dominance over the lesser mortals. We have spent our lives hiding in the shadows. Many of our brethren have given their lives to make this world what it is. The nymphs make the forests bloom, the leprechauns give the mortals luck, and what thanks do they get? Too long have we spent fighting amongst ourselves in the magical world, suffering under this delusion that it is all about good versus evil. But in fact it is not. Good and evil do not exist. It is about power, and **we** have that power. We should not be forced to hide who we are to protect them from what they cannot handle. We should rule them. They should fear us."

"NO!" Wyatt interrupted, anger clear on his face. "It isn't about power at all. We were given these powers to do good, to protect the innocent. You can try all you want to convince yourself that there is no good and evil, but there **is**. The truth is, people need to be protected from the magical world, and the evil that exists there," he emphasized, staring at the demons in the circle. "You think that because you do what is right, you deserve some sort of reward? It doesn't work like that. You have a duty to protect the forests and bring luck. You should be thankful that destiny allowed you the powers you have, and you should take pride in the greatness you do. "

Phoebe and Paige nodded in agreement, and a few of the good magical creatures seemed to doubt for a moment. The demons, however, did not seem happy with the response. They began to move toward the cage, but a being in a long brown robe stopped them.

"No," Gideon admonished, lowering the hood of his robe. "We have given them the opportunity to join us, and they have refused. We will not harm them," he emphasized, giving meaningful looks around the circle. "We were prepared for this answer, and we must move to plan B. Clarence?" Gideon nodded to one of the Cleaners.

The sisters prepared themselves for the battle they were sure would come, but instead, all of the beings disappeared, and only the Cleaner was left. He raised his hand which emitted a bright light, and then he too left. The cage had disappeared, and the trio was standing as they had when they first orbed in.

"Where's Dissid?" Paige asked. She had a feeling in her stomach that she was forgetting something, but shrugged it off. "Let's kick some demon ass!"

At that moment, a very discombobulated Dissid materializes in the middle of the clearing. "Traitors!" he yelled, just as Paige's vile connected with him, and he was vanquished.

"I still don't see why we had to sacrifice Dissid," the female demon lamented. "He could have been quite the asset. And why save the Charmed Ones?"

"We can't afford for our plan to be discovered until it is time," Gideon replied. "Once our plan to expose magic is discovered, both good and evil will be after us. We'll need to have the child on our side before then."

"About the child. I saw her today. She must have come back to the future with Wyatt. She's not one of us. She nearly destroyed Dissid. Our plan doesn't work Gideon."

"It will work. She's the perfect target. She's heir to the throne of the Source, so the demon world will follow her, and she's completely neutral, so good won't find her a threat. We just need to move up our time-table. With the people from the future here, we can't wait for them to figure out our plan. I might have erased their memories from this encounter, but it's only a moment of time. I've hired Paige to teach at magic school so that I can keep a closer eye on their investigations."

"Dissid said the Twice Blessed was evil when he first saw him. Do you think that somehow we changed him instead of the girl?"

"I think that is a probability, but that is not our plan. To attack the child of the Charmed One's at this point would be suicide. We take the girl, and consolidate power. Then we can consider the Twice Blessed."

Oh, and for all those out there that hate extra characters, I promise, it's not a Connie Fic, she plays a purpose, and I beg for your patience.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"_Piper_," Chris said with an exasperated sigh. "I'm fine. I haven't been contagious for days, and my fever broke that first night. Would you just let me be?" Piper had been attempting to force feed him or get him to go to sleep ever since the others left, and he was finally fed up. He was not a child or inept. He was here on a mission, and suddenly he had the chicken pox and now he was eight. It was ridiculous.

There it was again. That feeling like she'd seen that look before. That look of annoyance mixed with amusement. If only she could figure it out - and it was gone the moment the trio orbed into the solarium.

"Well it's about time you three got back!" Piper admonished, her attention leaving a very thankful Chris. "You've been gone for _hours_. I was worried sick."

"We weren't gone that long," Paige moved to comfort her sister. "It was a quick vanquish, it only took—whoa," she said as she looked at her watch. "We were gone a long time. Weird. Anyway, sorry we scared you, but Dissid is taken care of."

"Good," Chris broke in, "now it's time to get you guys home."

"Not so fast mister," Piper argued, "they need a good night's sleep and a good breakfast before we even consider sending them back. Now, I put a cot in Wyatt's room. Someone can take that, and someone can take the couch in the attic."

The three future people just stood still for a moment, unsure how to handle someone telling them it was bedtime.

"Well, I think sleep is a great idea," Paige moaned. "I start at Magic School tomorrow, and I am beat! Night!"

"Yeah," Phoebe agreed with a yawn, following her sister to the stairs. "Night."

"Well?" Piper asked determinedly, noting that none of the future people had moved an inch. "I said bed."

"Mom—" Wyatt started diplomatically, but closed his mouth when he saw the look on her face. "Connie, you can take the cot, because you're the girl. I'll take the attic couch."

"Momma's boy," Chris muttered, at the same time Connie incredulously said "the girl?" But the future trio made their way toward their respected beds anyway, not in the mood to battle with Piper.

She stood alone in the solarium for a moment, enjoying the feeling of being the Mom. She was going to be a mom again, and she couldn't wait.

"Wyatt?" Chris whispered. "Wyatt wake up." He had tried to sleep at P3, but was too wound up. Wyatt and Connie were going home tomorrow, and he was going to be stuck in the past with a family that had no idea who he was. He hadn't realized how much he missed feeling close to people until they came back. He almost wished the sisters realize who he was, but he knew it was better for the mission if they didn't. It was just complicate things.

"What? Have another nightmare? Should I go get wubbie?" Wyatt joked, groggily sitting up on the couch.

"Ha ha," Chris joked wryly. "I just couldn't sleep. I thought maybe we'd go over your battle plan for when you get back to the future." He came and sat next to Wyatt on the ancient sofa.

"Sure," Wyatt groaned, pulling a paper out of his pocket. "Here's the layout of the manor attic, which is where we'll end up. I think the two of us can take out the demons that show up, and maybe put a magical lock down on the house, to keep anyone from shimming, blinking, etc. into the house. Then we'll at least have the nexus and a base of operations."

"Sounds like a good plan," Chris agreed. "Don't forget to call for the book before you lock down the house. The spell might prevent the book from getting through." He sat there, staring at the plan for a while, mumbling to himself and enjoying the distraction.

"You could just tell them," Wyatt suggested, finally tired of waiting for his brother to broach the subject. He knew that's why Chris couldn't sleep. They both knew that Wyatt and Connie would be able to handle the initial demons; this was about something scarier… Piper.

"No," Chris stated firmly. "I just can't handle that. This is better for the mission."

The room was silent for a moment. Wyatt knowing he'd never convince Chris, and Chris unsure of what to say, too many emotions rattling around in his head.

"Do you think it'll be like this?" Chris finally broke the silence. "Do you think we'll be close like this? I mean even though you were an evil tyrant for the past few years, before that it was good. What if I mess that up?"

"You're such a dork," Wyatt answered, softly punching Chris's shoulder. "But seriously, it will work out. We'll be happy like we were supposed to, the whole family. I mean I'll still have a seriously annoying little brother, but we'll still be brothers. Besides, if it sucks, we'll just come back and fix it again."

"Awwww, brotherly bonding," Connie teased as she walked into the attic. "You guys couldn't sleep either?"

"Nope," they answered at the same time.

"Strategy time?" Connie asked.

"Strategy time," the boys answered, once again together. Then they shared a somewhat disturbed look, which turned into an ironic smile.

"I'll get the snacks," Chris offered. He paused a moment, concentrating, and then two bags a chips and three beers appeared on the attic floor.

"You couldn't get a six-pack?" Wyatt joked, opening his beer.

As they dug into the food, the strategizing began.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"Oh how cute!" Phoebe cooed, coming into the attic. The three future twenty-somethings were tangled on the attic floor, surrounded by junk food debris, with a large map of the manor and one of San Francisco lying in the middle of the floor. There were a variety of colors of pins dotted into the papers.

"Looks like we missed the party," Paige agreed. "Chris sure is a lot cuter when he's not nagging us to hunt demons."

"Oh hey," Chris greeted, waking up and disentangling himself from the others, "I was wondering if you guys would help make some spare potions for these two to bring back with them?"

"So much for cute," Paige mumbled, walking from the attic, Phoebe at her heels.

"Come on!" Chris pleaded, as he followed Phoebe and Paige into the kitchen. "Don't you want to help your cute, adorable, sweet little nephew?"

"Dude, did you just call me cute?" Wyatt asked, "a little awkward."

"Shut up, I'm playing on their sympathy," Chris he mock whispered.

"Whose sympathy?" Piper asked. She was sitting at the kitchen table feeding baby Wyatt.

"Chris is trying to convince us to stay home from work to make potions," Paige explained. "But I have my first day at Magic School, and I am going."

"And I have done no work on this week's column," Phoebe explained. "I still can't believe you're going to be a teacher. That's so exciting!"

"Ok, well both of you be back in time for dinner. I'm going to cook and then we'll send our visitors back," Piper announced.

"Ok," Phoebe sighed. "Are you sure you have to go so soon?" she asked, hugging Wyatt. Once she was assured that he couldn't breathe, she cheerfully let him go. "Anyway, I'm off. And don't even try," she aimed a Chris, walking out of the house.

"What she said," Paige quipped, and orbed away.

"Come on!" Chris whined. "Fine, I'll be in the attic working on the potions, _alone_."

"I'll give you a hand," Connie offered, coming into the kitchen, "just as soon as I have a little coffee."

"Alright," Chris muttered as he left the room.

"Still no word from Leo?" Connie asked, dumping the debris from last night into the kitchen garbage.

"No," Piper answered grumpily. "I'm starting to get worried. Surely they aren't going to keep him from his family. Especially with the threat of Wyatt going evil. The coffee mugs are over there," she pointed, noting Connie's confusion, but when she huffily flung her hand toward the mugs, one went flying off of the counter and hit Wyatt in the head.

"Oh my goodness!" Piper screamed, running toward Wyatt. "I'm so sorry sweetheart. Are you ok? Oh no, you're bleeding!" She bent down and wiped his head with a napkin. "It must have been the baby. I am so so sorry!"

"I suppose sibling rivalry starts early," Connie mused, grabbing an icepack out of the freezer.

"It's fine. I prefer the Chris in there to the one out here anyway. At least this one can't talk yet," Wyatt quipped, still a little dazed from head wound. "Here, let me—" as he motioned to take the napkin from his mother's hand, he looked at her face. Her eyes held a mix of shock and happiness. He tried to replay the conversation in his head, but wasn't quick enough.

"I can't believe how blind we were," she muttered, sitting down beside Wyatt on the floor. "Why else would he be the one to come back? And he knew us. How else would he be able to manipulate us so well? He's my baby," she sniffed. She was starting to tear up, as she looked down at her stomach. "I was so mean to my baby. I have to go talk to him."

"Mom," Wyatt implored, grabbing her arm gently, "_please_, you can't tell him I told you. He'll kill me. I promised I wouldn't tell you."

"No," Piper stated adamantly, "I am going to treat him like my son whether he likes it or not. We've been so awful to him, and we are going to fix it. Now either you can tell him I know, or I will. Oh! And we will deal with you keeping this from me later." She couldn't believe this. He was hers. He was her little baby. Her baby that she had treated so horribly. _Malnourished_. Once again she felt the horrible guilt. Well it ended now. She was going to take care of him whether he liked it or not. He was going to get at least eight hours of sleep and three meals a day, and she was going to know everything about him. Future consequences be damned.

He knew that look. He had seen that look of determination many times over the years, and he knew not to argue. "Ok, ok, I'll tell him," he groaned. This was not going to go well.

"Hey Piper?" Chris called, walking into the kitchen, "do we have any more—What?" he asked, noticing that everyone was staring at him.

"Well," Wyatt started, "there's good news and bad news."

"What happened to your head?" Chris asked, scanning the room for demons.

"Well, the good news is it looks like this kid is going to be pretty powerful. It managed to crack me in the head with a coffee mug from fifty paces—" the rest of Wyatt's explanation was drowned out by Chris's hysterical laughter.

"You got beat up by a fetus," he roared. "That is the best thing I've ever heard. Getting a little rusty with that shield old man?"

"Hold on to that feeling," Wyatt mumbled, sending a pleading look toward his mother. Noting the stern look on her face, he continued, "and while I was still really dazed, really _really_ dazed, I might have let something slip..."

Chris stopped laughing and looked at his brother's face. He was busted. He knew from the look on Wyatt's face. "What did you let slip?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"I know," Piper explained, rubbing her hand across her stomach and smiling up at him. He barely noticed, instead he turned his eyes on his brother.

"You did this on purpose," he forced out. "I told you I didn't want them to know, and you told her anyway."

It made him so mad. What was going to happen? How would everyone take it? He couldn't handle it. He just felt this huge pressure building, and he didn't know what to do.

"Chris—"Piper started, hoping to calm him down.

"No, Piper, not right now," and he orbed away.

"I'll go after him," Wyatt offered.

"No," Connie reasoned. "He needs the space. We'll work on the future spell and potion. Come on," she insisted, passing Wyatt the ice pack and pulling him toward the stairs.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

"He's been gone for hours," Piper grumbled, as she paced across the attic. "If he isn't back in the next two minutes, I am going to summon him, so help me."

Wyatt and Connie shared a look, but didn't dare say anything to contradict her. "He is so grounded," Wyatt whispered to Connie with a wink. "I'll go check over at P3 and a few of his other haunts," he offered and he orbed away.

"Christopher!" Piper yelled for what must have been the fiftieth time. "That's it, someone get me a knife."

"Knife? Piper are you ok?" Connie asked, following Piper as she moved towards the candles.

"I'm fine," she growled, "I'm just doing a blood to blood spell. He is coming back here and talking to me, whether he likes it or not. He's been gone for too long. He could be lying in a ditch!"

Again Connie just stood back and let Piper have her way. Within moments she had lit the candles and arranged them in a circle.

"Piper," she finally spoke up, "are you sure you want to do this? Maybe he needs the space."

Piper just gave her a withering stare, and said the spell.

Finally orbs filled coalesced in the center of the circle, forming Chris. Piper almost didn't recognize him. He was so bloody and sooty. His clothes were ripped, and his face was swollen.

"LEO!" she screamed, falling to her knees beside Chris. "Go get the first aid kit," she ordered Connie.

Connie's brain was moving slowly from seeing Chris in such a condition, that it didn't even occur to her to call Wyatt. Thankfully Leo orbed in immediately.

"I was just coming to -What happened to him?" Leo asked, kneeling down next to Chris.

"We don't know," Piper snapped, "just heal him."

After a few moments, the healing glow finally receded, and Chris came to.

"What the hell happened?" Piper demanded, more than a hint of hysteria in her voice.

"I guess I taunted one too many demons," Chris smirked. "Thanks Leo," he mumbled as he sat up. "Anyway, I should get back to work on those potions."

"Demons? By _yourself_," Piper asked incredulously. "I've been worried sick, and you've been off on some kamikaze mission in the underworld. I had no idea where you were! I called and called and you didn't answer. You are not to go into the underworld by yourself ever again. In fact….you are grounded!" She had worked herself up into such a state, she couldn't even think straight. She had been so worried, and then he had the _nerve_ to laugh it off like that.

Leo looked up from Chris's face. Had Piper just grounded her whitelighter? Sure Chris was young, but he sincerely doubted he was that young.

"Piper," Chris protested, attempting to reason with Piper, "I am your whitelighter –"

"Actually, you're not," Leo interjected, tired of being ignored. "I am," he finished, answering their unasked questions. "The Elders agreed that my place was here. I'm needed here, to keep my family safe."

"Leo, that's wonder- what about Chris?" Piper asked suddenly. She wouldn't let them try to send him back again.

"We agreed it would be best for him to stay and focus fully on his mission," Leo explained, a little off put from the less than enthusiastic response. "What have I missed?" he finally asked. This conversation was getting weirder and weirder.

Piper paused for a moment. He still didn't know about the baby, and about Chris. This was going to be a lot to explain.

"Why don't we step into the hall," she suggested, "and you are not to move from this room. Understood?" she directed Chris, he nodded, still a little drained and disoriented.

"Piper?" Leo asked once they were finally in the hall. He was beginning to get worried. "What is it?'

"I'm pregnant," she blurted out, "a few nights ago. Our, ummm reunion," she added when he looked a little concerned.

"I'm going to have another child?" He was dazed, but so happy. They were going to have another child. He was going to be a Dad again. He had his family back, and they were going to have a new addition.

Her heart swelled at the goofy smile plastered across his face. He was excited. She was relieved. "There's more. It's a boy. I had a little future insight," she winked.

"A boy? Another son." He was gleeful. He had another son on the way.

"I was thinking of naming him after your father," she hinted, unsure of how to break the second part of the news.

"Reginald?"

"No, I was thinking his middle name," she hinted further. Surely he would put it together.

"I like the name Christopher," Leo admitted, and then he paused. His eyes bugged a little, and he looked down at her stomach. She could tell he had put it together. "Chris is our second son."

"Yes. He's our second son who just walked into a demon melee to avoid me." She finally let the hurt show. She had been so scared, but now she just felt hurt. Why would he do something so reckless? Was she that bad of a mother? Did he hate her that much?

"I know sweetie," he reassured, "it's just going to be an adjustment for him. And we'll be here when he finally opens up, but we need to give him space. And you treating him like he's fourteen isn't going to help matters," he ended, raising an eyebrow.

"You always know just want to say," she smiled, snuggling into his embrace. It felt nice to have him back to comfort her, and he was going to stay this time. "He's still grounded though," she added, pulling away and walking back into the attic. Leo paused a moment, knowing this was not going to go well, but deciding to follow her in anyway.

"Piper," Chris started penitently, when they walked into the attic, "I am sorry that I worried you."

"Sit."

"Excuse me?" Chris asked.

"Sit," Piper expounded, pointing toward the couch, "we need to have a discussion."

"You know, I should probably go tell Wyatt we found you," Connie excused, and then shimmered away.

"Piper," Chris tried again.

"You heard your mother Chris."

Chris rolled his eyes at Leo's interjection, but his indignant retort was cut off by Paige orbing into the attic.

"Teacher in the house!" she announced. "I had the **best** day! The kids were a little hard to handle, but it went pretty well. . . Leo! You're back." She suddenly noticed, giving her brother-in-law a hug.

"Yeah-" he answered.

"What the hell happened?" Wyatt exploded when he and Connie orbed back to the attic. "You went to the underworld by yourself? Were you dropped on your head as a child?"

"Technically, he was. Remember that time you dropped him on his head?" Connie supplied.

"Ha, yeah. Good times," Wyatt reflected, distracted from his rampage.

"You dropped him on his head?" Piper squeaked. She was going to have more than she bargained for with these two.

"He started it," Wyatt mumbled.

"Who started it?" Phoebe asked, bustling into the attic, arms filled with packages. "Actually, I don't care," she cut in, "I bought onesies! I know we don't know a gender yet," she shot an accusing stare at the future trio, "so I stuck with more neutral colors –"

"Actually, we do know the gender," Piper grinned. "It's a boy!"

"A boy!" Phoebe and Paige chorused together, both moving to rub Piper's stomach.

"You're really bucking tradition there kiddo," Paige joked. "I sure hope we come up with a name faster than we did for Wyatt. We don't need another kid named 'hey you' for a month and a half."

"It wasn't that long," Piper growled, slapping their hands away. "And we already have a name," she admitted, looking at Chris pointedly.

Phoebe and Paige put it together at the same time, and there was a long pause as they just stared at Chris with dumbstruck looks on their faces, unsure of how to take the news.

"Awww cute, this one has a rubber ducky," Wyatt interrupted, picking up one of the onesies Phoebe had bought, "it'll look great with your eyes," he mocked, throwing it at Chris.

"Shut up," Chris groaned, throwing it back at Wyatt.

"We're in trouble," Piper sighed looking toward Leo, a mix of annoyance and amusement on her face. "Alright, everyone downstairs, while I start dinner. I'm not sending you two to the future on empty stomachs."

_Alright, here's the latest update. I still have a ways to go, but I had some housekeeping to get done first. I hope you enjoyed! The action should pick up soon…and then! Hold on to your hats. Well, actually you should take off your hats. It's impolite to wear hats indoors._


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

"How did we not see it?" Phoebe asked, staring at Chris from about five inches away. "He looks just like Piper."

"He does," Paige wowed, at a similar distance from the other side. "He even has the same annoyed look."

"I do not have an annoyed look," Piper cut in. Her sisters shared a look that said 'there it is," but were smart enough not to say anything.

"Except the eyes," Phoebe added, changing the subject, "definitely Leo's eyes."

"No," Leo joined in, "they're more like my Dad's. That's probably why we named him Chris."

Leo had shared his news, which resulted in a Power of Three group hug. Then the group had moved downstairs to sit at the dining room table, which was laden with enough food to feed an army. Chris had attempted to sneak out, but Piper's glare had prevented him.

"Can you guys please stop that," Chris huffed. "Can we just let it go and pretend you don't know again?"

"Nope," Paige answered.

"Certainly not. We want to spoil you," Phoebe cooed, moving to pinch his cheek, but thinking better of it. "Oh! We can go shopping tomorrow and I can get fetus you some new onesies, and grown up you some new clothes!"

"That certainly sounds fun," Wyatt joined in. "You two should definitely do that."

"Phoebe, I'm here to figure out who turns Wyatt, not to go shopping," Chris snapped. "Speaking of which . . ." he moved to excuse himself.

"No," Piper cut him off. "Eat your peas."

"Not to bring up a painful topic, but are we all ready for the big send off?" Paige asked.

"Yeah," Wyatt answered. "We worked up a spell and a potion. It would be great if you guys could look at them before we used them though."

"We can do that," Phoebe offered, a little whine in her voice.

"Well I suppose that's it," Piper sighed when everyone had finished eating. "If we're going to do this, we should probably do it now before more demons start attacking."

"Umm Chris," Connie asked, holding back while the rest of the people went upstairs, "can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure," he said wearily. "I know what you're going to say. You're going to tell me to let them in and enjoy them while I can, and to take care of myself and to stop being such an idiot," he scoffed once the rest of the people had cleared the room.

"You sure know me well," she smiled. "We've been friends a long time."

"Yeah, we have," he agreed, nudging her shoulder with his.

"But, that's not what I was going to say," she ended, startling him. "I don't know how this is all going to turn out. Who knows what effect Wyatt being good could have on things, and I don't like regrets. So here it is, pick me. I need you to know that you can pick me. I love you. I've loved you from the time we were six and you ate a worm to impress me. But" she interjected, cutting off whatever he was going to say, and moving to face him, "_but_, if you choose Bianca, I'll understand. I just couldn't leave, not knowing what was waiting on the other side, without this." And they kissed. It was a deep, passionate, romantic kiss. His mind was reeling the whole time, but he still enjoyed the goodbye.

"Do you have to leave so soon?" Phoebe asked. The remainder of the Halliwells were all in the attic. Piper was looking over the spell. Paige was checking on the potion, Leo was drawing the triquetra on the wall, and Phoebe was hugging Wyatt so hard he was nearly blue.

"I know Aunt Phoebe, but we need to get back. This isn't our time. We're needed in the future."

"But does it really matter when you leave with time travel?" Paige asked. "I mean, can't you leave at any time and get there at any time?"

"Let's not have the time travel discussion," Piper cut them off. "It just makes my head hurt. Ok, the spell looks good. How's the potion?"

"It's ready," Paige answered.

"I'm going to miss you Mom," Wyatt admitted, tearing himself from Phoebe to hug his mother. "And give Chris some time. He'll come around."

"I hope so," she sighed, "but I'm going to miss you. It was nice seeing you two horse around a bit. He seemed to relax some. And you are such a good man. I'm proud of you sweetie."

"Mom," Wyatt whined, though there was still a smile on his face.

"You two ready to go?" Chris asked, walking into the attic, a blushing Connie at his heels.

"Yeah, but slight change of plan," Wyatt answered, "Connie is staying here with you. Your mission is more important than mine, and so you're going to need help. I think she should stay here."

"Wyatt," Chris started, his voice rising in anger, "we've already had this conversation. She's going with you. I have the sister's help here. It's too dangerous for you to go off by yourself."

"I can handle it. This is my mess, and I'll clean it up by myself. She's staying here." By this time the two men were toe to toe. Wyatt was quite a bit taller than Chris, but he didn't seem intimidated by that fact.

"Is not!" Chris yelled.

"Is too!" Wyatt yelled back.

Piper nearly laughed out loud. The way the two of them fought reminded her so much of her and Phoebe. They really cared for each other. It made her happy to know her children would be close enough that one would travel to the past to save the other. Maybe, there was hope after all.

"ENOUGH" Connie yelled, stepping between the two men, and pulling Piper from her thoughts. "I am not a Gameboy that you can fight over. I am a person, and I will make up my own mind. Now, I agree with Chris. I'm not sending you back into a warzone by yourself."

"You always agree with Chris," Wyatt complained. "What happened to the whole 'legally obligated to agree with me' thing?"

"I'm more useful in the future. I still have some contacts with the rebellion, so we can convince them to fight on our side. Now, let's get going before we hit rush hour," she joked. Chris and Wyatt stepped apart, grinning a little.

"See ya around kiddo," Wyatt nodded toward Chris. "Take care of yourself, and try not to be such a pain in the ass."

"Ha ha," Chris said dryly. "I will if you will."

The two men hugged as the sisters said the spell. Soon the portal opened on the wall, beckoning the Connie and Wyatt forth.

"You know," Connie whispered in Piper's ear as they hugged goodbye, "if you push, he'll push back. But if you ask sweetly, he'll never say no to his mommy."

Piper smiled, though there were tears in her eyes as they walked through the portal. Her little boy was going to be a good man. She would make sure he stayed that way.

"Ok, what leads do you have?" she asked turning to Chris. He looked relieved to have the conversation turn to something more comfortable.

"Well I have a list that I compiled in the future. We've worked through a good portion of it, but there are still some to go. I talked to Wyatt last night and he didn't have any idea, but that's understandable, since it's going to happen in the next nine months—" he rambled, walking over toward the book and flipping through.

"Nine months!" Paige gasped. "Do you think you might have mentioned that before? I didn't know we had a deadline."

"Yeah," Chris acknowledge, "you guys never seemed too interested, so I kept it to myself. I can work up a vanquish for tomorrow if you guys are free?" he asked, knowing he'd have to beg.

"Sure," Piper agreed. "We'll be here."

Phoebe and Paige took the hint and nodded along. They needed to make more of an effort. They had seen that Wyatt was evil, and knew they had to prevent it. And, judging from the smile that lit onto his face at their acquiescence, it meant a lot to Chris.

"On one condition," Phoebe broke in, pointing a finger into his chest. "We're still on for that shopping date."

"Phoebe," Chris groaned, "I'm not here to go shopping, I'm here to—"

"Then I'm not going on the vanquish," Phoebe stated, folding her arms, and moving to walk from the attic.

"Wait," he yelled, looking pleadingly at his mother. She gave him a smile that said 'you're on your own.' Phoebe paused at the door, an expectant look on her face. "I'll go," he groaned, a pained expression on his face.

"Goody," she squeaked, "I'll go map out which stores to hit in the mall, and maybe we could head to a few other shops . . ." she trailed off as she left the attic.

"Well . . . I'm going to work on my lesson plan for tomorrow," Paige segued, following Phoebe from the room.

"Leo, why don't you and Chris set up that old four-poster up here?" Piper suggested, looking around at the attic. "I think we put the parts in the basement. There's an extra mattress too from when we changed out Phoebe's. If we move some of this junk around, this could be a nice room."

"Why?" Chris asked warily.

"I think you know why," Leo joked knowingly, softly punching Chris in the arm. "Come on bud, we can get it set up pretty quickly."

"No," Chris scoffed incredulously, "I'm fine at P3, and don't call me bud," he added, orbing away.

"What did I say?" Leo asked, confused.

"I don't know sweetie," Piper consoled. She knew things had been going too smoothly. There was too much bad blood to believe that Chris was going to remain his relaxed self after his brother left. "I think there's a lot of stuff from the future we don't know. It's going to take time for us to get to know each other, but we'll get there."

"And what about us?" Leo asked, suddenly feeling awkward being left alone with his ex-wife. In all that had gone on that day, he hadn't even had time to worry about what him being back meant.

"I don't know," Piper admitted. "It's going to take time, but I'm willing to try," she said, giving him her hand.

"I understand." He nodded, taking her hand. He was a little heartbroken, but he had known it wasn't going to be easy. "I'm willing to fight for you."

_So, it's back. I suddenly decided to finish this puppy off. Hopefully it'll be done in a few weeks. It's pretty close._


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Chris walked into the attic early the next morning. He figured the sisters would be more willing on the vanquish if he had already prepared the potion and the spell. Now that they knew he was a witch, it would be much easier.

When he walked in, there was a bed, a dresser, and a television set up in one corner of the room. There was a note on the pillow. Chris recognized it as being in Piper's handwriting.

_Dear Chris,_

_In case you wanted some place quieter to stay. Please consider it._

_Love,_

_Mom_

Piper had taken Connie's suggestion to heart. She wanted him at the house, and hoped he would take her offer. She worried he would start the obsession again now that his friends were gone, and she didn't think she could handle that. She didn't want him to kill himself over this, but it made her proud the lengths he would go to in order to protect his brother.

Chris looked at the note for a long while, a mass of emotions passing across his face. He wanted to want to be there. Even all those years before it felt like home, but he had to keep them distant. If they started treating him like a child, they'd take over and wouldn't let him do anything. But would that be so bad? He was so tired of the pressure. Before he'd come back to the past, he'd led thousands as the leader of the Rebellion. He'd watched family and friends suffer and die. Then, coming back here, he'd had to deal with the distrust and the hate. He wanted to trust them. he wanted to just let them be his Mom and Aunts again. The women who protected him in his childhood, but he wasn't sure if he knew how to be that kid again.

Looking at that note, he once again saw his Mom, lying cold and motionless on the atrium floor. He could still smell the singed flesh and the metallic scent of blood. He hadn't had a flashback like that in a while. When he first came back, he relived it every time he saw her. Every time he smelled her perfume. Every time she smiled at him. Every time she yelled at him. But that had faded the more he separated the past from the future, and now all that was unraveling.

Suddenly emotionally drained, he let himself fall onto the bed. Turning the television to MTV and opening up the Book of Shadows to the current demon of the week, he let himself get immersed in his mission. _Focus on the mission_.

Downstairs, the sisters were rushing through the kitchen and their daily routine.

"Ok," Piper started, "I'll be at the club this morning, and I have lunch with Eva, and then back at the club. I should be home by three until around 8. I'll take Wyatt with me."

"Yeah," Phoebe chimed in, heading for the bagels, "I'll be at the paper this morning, and the mall with my newest nephew around two. We can be back by five if we want to do the vanquish about 5:30?"

"5:30 works for me," Paige agreed, pouring a tall cup of coffee. "I'll be teaching throughout the day, and I have some administrative stuff to do. Magic School has a great library if we need to do any extra research. Gideon was all but insistent that we use it. Could be a good resource."

"I'd like to see it," Phoebe admitted. "All right, I'm off. Tell that son of yours I'm coming for him."

"5:30 vanquish," Paige confirmed. "See you guys then," and she orbed off.

And even further below, the Syndicate had joined together once more to formulate their next plan.

"We must act quickly. Now that the two from the future are gone, the Charmed Ones are weaker," the Seer urged. She and Gideon were in her lair in the underworld, along with a small group of the Syndicate. "We must keep them busy for us to attack our target. We cannot let them interfere with this plan."

"We must bide our time," Gideon replied. "This is not something we can rush into. I can gain information from Paige to ensure they do not get too close. For now, we must put things in place for the birth of child."

"Very well," the Seer agreed.

Gideon, satisfied that his orders would be followed, orbed out of the cave and back to magic School.

"I still am convinced we should target the Twice Blessed child as well," the Seer announced to the members of the Syndicate still in the cave. "And as for that, I have a plan-"

"Hey," Leo said, knocking on the doorjamb of the attic. He was glad to see that Chris had taken Piper's offer and was lying on the bed. However she probably was hoping he'd be asleep on it, instead of writing spells and looking through the Book of Shadows.

"Hey," Chris replied. "What do you want?" He still wasn't sure how to deal with Leo in this time, and even less so now that Leo had chosen to quit being an Elder to come be with his family. He'd spent so long trying to hate him, and now Leo was different and Chris didn't know how to be. Would this be the Leo that raised him? Or was it inevitable that he would distance himself again? Focusing on Wyatt and forsaking his family for the rest of the world.

"Well, Piper went into P3, and she wanted me to tell you the vanquish is scheduled for 5:30, and Phoebe is picking you up for shopping at 2. I thought I could help." Leo still stood fidgeting in the doorway, unsure. He didn't know what to do to make it up to Chris. Not only had he been completely wrong about Chris trying to hurt Wyatt, but Chris was his _son_. He'd screamed at him, threatened him, even beaten him up on several occasions. He was quite possibly the worst father in the history of the world. And to make it worse, he knew Chris felt the same.

"Great, can you help me get out of this shopping trip?" Chris asked, climbing off the bed, and putting the Book back on its stand.

"Sorry, I'm not that good," Leo smiled, "but I could help you make the vanquishing potion."

"Thanks, but it's not much work. I can handle it." He really wished Leo would leave. He had that "we need to talk" look on his face, and it was making Chris uncomfortable. He'd cut Leo out of his life for good when he was fourteen, and that decision had only been made easier in dealing with the Leo of the past. He wanted to keep it that way.

"Chris, I just want to help, that's all. I'm the girls' whitelighter and it's my job to help," Leo stated, trying to keep it professional. Trying to be confident but not confrontational. "Besides, I promised your mom that I'd make sure you had breakfast." Piper had given him one task for the day, and he was determined to come through for her.

Chris paused a moment. The whole thing was so awkward, but he had been trying to get them to help him for months, and now they were offering. He knew he should be thankful and just go with it, but it was so hard to say yes, especially to Leo.

"Chris," Leo started again after a few seconds had passed, knowing why the young man was pausing, "we do want to help, but you have to meet us half way. So I'll grab all the ingredients, if you'll sit down and eat the bowl of cereal Piper left in the kitchen. Deal?"

"Deal," Chris acquiesced, handing over the list of ingredients he'd written out. "So you're really back?" He asked, ducking his head and walking past Leo toward the stairs. He didn't _want_ to ask, but he _had _to know. He hated this feeling. He was so unsure. He felt like he was eight years old asking if Leo would make it to his birthday party again.

"Yeah," Leo grinned, as the two moved to walk downstairs. His heart swelled a bit. Chris wanted him around. He wasn't ready to admit it, but he did. "It took a lot of convincing, but in the end, the Elders agreed that I needed to be here. I can't believe I stayed gone for so long. I can't believe I ever agreed to abandon my family. I suppose I should thank you," Leo said, still staring at Chris's back. He really wished is son would just look him in the eye. They walked into the kitchen, and Leo put the bowl of cereal Piper had left out on the table, as well as a glass of orange juice. "Piper told me about your plan, and I guess it worked. So thank you. I am so sorry for how awful I was to you." Leo finally stepped in front of his son, trying to get him to just look him in the eye.

"It's nothing," Chris mumbled, staring down at his feet. He didn't want Leo to apologize. He didn't want to have to deal with this Leo. He wanted to keep hating him.

"No Chris," Leo declared, putting his hands on Chris's shoulders. "You came back here to help us, and I was awful to you. You deserve an apology. Now, sit down and have some breakfast before your mother blows me up."

"You have got to be kidding me," Chris laughed, looking at the "bowl" of cereal. It was a medium size Tupperware bowl filled so that it was overflowing, "how am I supposed to eat all of that?"

"Listen, she'll calm down eventually, but she still feels guilty about the whole 'you running yourself until you literally lost consciousness' thing. Just humor her for a while longer. She'll calm down."

"Alright, fine. Are you going to go grab the ingredients?"

"Actually," Leo admitted, a little abashed as he sat down next to Chris, "Piper made me promise to make sure you ate. I'll go after you finish."

"How have classes been going?" Gideon asked, entering into Paige's classroom. She'd had two classes in the morning, and was on break, before her third in the afternoon.

"It was wonderful," Paige enthused. "I mean, the kids were rowdy at first, but I think they're really starting to respect me. In fact, Jonathan pulled off the transfiguration potion today and he was so proud. I mean a few days ago he hated his craft, and now—it's very rewarding."

"I knew that you would be a good teacher Paige. It is definitely your calling," Gideon said, taking a seat on one of the desk chairs. "Though it makes me sad when students are ashamed of their powers. If only they could live openly in the world. But sadly the world is fearful about those that are different. You've done well so far," Gideon transitioned, rising and moving toward the door, "I look forward to seeing your progress."

Paige stared after him, thinking of what he said. She remembered what it was like when she first became a witch. She had been so proud of her powers, but also hated having to hide it from those she cared about. What if they could expose magic to the rest of the world? What if they could live in the open? Magical beings wouldn't have to cower in the darkness. She could be super witch and have a normal life.

"This is ridiculous," she mumbled to herself. She knew what happened when magic had been exposed before. The world wasn't capable of handling magic. It always ended in abuse and persecution.

Back in his office, Gideon shut and locked the door and sat down behind his desk. "I have planted the seed, but it will take more for the Charmed Ones to come over to our way of thinking."

"I am still not sure that is necessary," the Seer challenged, moving out of the shadows. "We should focus on our target."

"It would be beneficial to have them on our side. We do not want to have to fight them later. I have a plan to convince them to join our ranks. I will share it with the Syndicate when next we meet. Now you should leave before someone sees you. I can only keep the barrier excluding evil down for so long."

"As you wish," the Seer acquiesced.

"Piper! Over here," Eva called. She and her daughter Roma were sitting at a table overlooking the Bay. "I'm so glad we could do this. I feel like ever since I became a mom I hardly ever get out."

"Tell me about it," Piper sighed, setting Wyatt in a high chair next to Roma's. "And having a . . . special child makes it harder to do the whole 'play date thing.' I'm always worried that Wyatt is going to do something to expose us, and the whole process is just so nerve wracking."

"Agreed. Thank goodness for Magic School. I think it's important for my Roma to have a place where she doesn't have to hide a part of herself. And a place where I don't have to hide part of myself either."

"Yeah, especially now that I have another one on the way," Piper quipped.

"You're pregnant too!" Eva squealed. "The doctor just called me this morning."

"Really?" Piper asked. "I know this is a strange question, but I've always wondered about other magical mothers, does your baby have powers in the womb?" Piper didn't know any other witches that had given birth, and she wondered if it was normal or just some quirk in the Halliwell-Warren line.

"I didn't with Roma," Eva explained. "But her father was a Valhalla Warrior. With this one, however, there have been a few . . . incidents."

"A Valhalla Warrior?" Piper asked. Suddenly curious as to whether this woman knew anything about Leo being kept there. She made a mental note to ask Chris about it later, not wanting to ruin a perfectly good lunch out with family drama

"Yeah, I come from a line of Valkyrie warriors, though my husband and I decided to leave the island and raise our family in San Francisco. Why? " Eva was worried that she had just ruined a friendship by bringing up Valhalla. That place seemed to always ruin everything for her.

"No reason, I just didn't realize Valkyrie Warriors could reproduce." Piper explained. "Anyway, I've heard the Alfredo here is wonderful. The shrimp is freshly caught."

"Ooo sounds fantastic," Eva concurred. "To Mom's day out," she toasted.

"Well it looks like the potion is all done," Leo commented. He and Chris were back up in the attic working on the vanquishing potion together. He was happy that he'd had the day to spend with Chris, and the two had managed to get along fairly well.

"Yeah," Chris mumbled, suddenly feeling awkward again. While they had been busy with the potion, he'd been too preoccupied to be uneasy around Leo. But now, without something to occupy them, there was nothing but awkward silence.

"Why did you try to get rid of me?" Leo asked suddenly. He didn't mean to ask it, and he knew Chris wouldn't want to talk about it, but he couldn't stand not knowing why his son didn't want him around.

"I . . . I . . ." Chris stuttered. Suddenly trapped like a deer in the headlights. He didn't want to hurt Leo's feelings . . . wait, he didn't? Since when? This whole thing was just so confusing.


End file.
